Gass 
Book 



/ 



EXERCISES FOR LADIES. 



PHINTED BY .1. AND C. ADLARD, 
BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE. 




Crooked S-pxoe 



I.Howard, del* 



EXERCISES FOR LADIES; 



CALCULATED TO 

PRESERVE AND IMPROVE BEAUTY, 

B R A i< pS* 

JUL cP \o.ol 

TO PREVENT AND CORRECT PERSONAL DEFECTS, 
INSEPARABLE FROM CONSTRAINED OR CARELESS HABITS: 

FOUNDED ON 

PHYSIOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. 



BY DONALD WALKER. 



LONDON: 

THOMAS HURST, 65, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. 

1836. 



DEDICATION. 

TO 

MISS BARBARA LEONORA CARLISLE 

AND 

MISS ANNABELLA CARLISLE, 

AS 

A MARK OF THE AUTHOR^ RESPECT 

FOR THEIR 

AMIABLE QUALITIES 

AND 

HIGH ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 



X 



MEDICAL TESTIMONIALS, 



LETTER FROM DR. BIRKBECK TO THE AUTHOR. 

38, Finsbury Square ; Dec. 11, 1835, 

My dear Sir, 

To promote and to regulate the exercise of 
young ladies, are objects not less important than 
difficult; and I am delighted to see an attempt made 
by the author of " Manly Exercises, ,, for their accom- 
plishment. 

With your general views regarding female develop- 
ment, which are clear and well expressed, I thoroughly 
agree : and I am not less gratified by what you have 
stated respecting the necessity of early freedom from 
all restraint of a personal kind, of equality of action 
and position, and of constant, appropriate, well regu- 
lated exercise, to the production alike of grace, of 
health, and of vigor. You have contributed mate- 
rially, I am persuaded, to prevent the occurrence of 
unequal enlargement of muscular parts, the first and 
slightest species of deformity; and the still more 
serious deviations from the correct form of the body, 
which occur when that curious and beautiful mecha- 
nical fabric the spine, becomes deranged. The means 
which you have proposed for the correction of such 
casualties when they do occur, are excellent ; and will, 
I trust, quickly supersede the use of all those incon- 
sistent and unscientific expedients, which under the 
pretext of producing support and extension, augment 
the essential cause of deformity, by crippling the na- 
tural actions, overloading the weakened frame, and 
exerting much unequal and painful pressure. 

The modes of action which, in your work, you have 
proposed as exercises for ladies, are good ; and some 
of them are interesting and amusing. It has occurred 
to me often to observe, that for the recommendation 
of suitable and sufficient exercise, it was not enough 
powerfully to display its ultimate importance to the 
well-being of the individual ; it was necessary to secure 



i 



viii. 



TESTIMONIALS. 



its adoption, to render it attractive likewise. Hence, 
the advantage of dancing ; and hence the advantage 
of the Indian Exercise, which by its elegance, variety, 
and moderation, will, I doubt not, when your work 
has been extensively circulated, become a general 
favorite. Indeed, I am not acquainted with any 
modifications of action, which in conferring grace, 
facility, and power, can be compared with the Indian 
Exercise. 

That in this new endeavour to improve the phy- 
sical condition of our species — and in this instance, 
unquestionably the most interesting portion — I hope 
you may be eminently successful, after what I have 
written upon the subject, cannot be doubted: and I 
remain ever, my dear Sir, 

Verv sincerelv and faithfullv vours, 
Id Walker, Esq. ' GEORGE BIRKBECK. 



letter from dr. copland to the author. 
Dear Sir, 

I have been very much pleased by the perusal 
of your book on the " Exercises for Ladies,"' &c. 

1 agree with you in the opinion, that the universal 
and perpetually operating cause of deformity in young 
ladies is the " one-sided ness" with which nearly every 
action in common life is performed. Of the safety 
and efficacy of the exercises you recommend I have 
no doubt. The Indian Sceptre exercise is the most 
efficient and most graceful of any hitherto devised. 

Upon the whole, I esteem the Exercises described 
to be the best calculated, of any means that have 
come to my knowledge, to prevent deformity, to re- 
medy it in most cases, and to promote a healthy 
physical development. 

I am. dear Sir. yours truly j 

JAMES COPLAND, m.d. f.r.s. &e. 
Buhtrode Street ; 10 Bee. 1835. 
To Donald Walker, Esq. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Innumerable parents have watched with 
anxiety the ostensible operation of the causes 
producing deformity in their daughters. Few 
have imagined that these causes are almost 
as palpable as their effects, — that they are 
their peculiar modes of performing nearly 
every act of their lives ! 

But this is less surprising than that me- 
dical writers, so far as I am acquainted with 
them, should, with regard, for instance, to 
the most universal of these deformities — 
lateral curvature of the spinarcolumn, have 



X. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



generally failed to give simple and lucid 
views, in due succession, of the structure and 
functions of the parts chiefly affected, of the 
causes acting upon them, of the uniformity 
with which these exert one lateral action, 
of the one-sidedness which characterizes all 
of them, and of the clear indication of the 
means of prevention, namely, a little other- 
sidedness, which this knowledge of the cause 
presents. 

Under such circumstances, it is not won- 
derful that the teachers of exercises, who 
are generally destitute of physiological know- 
ledge, should have hitherto proposed inade- 
quate and ridiculous means — exercises which, 
in almost every instance, have been either 
uselessly severe, or unmeaning and frivolous. 

The materials, however, on this important 
subject have been almost as ample as could 
be desired. Nothing has been wanted, but 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



XI. 



a very little analytical enquiry, and an or- 
derly disposition of well known facts. 

I pretend, accordingly, to have done no 
more as to existing materials than to select 
from others the most striking of these facts, 
not disguising my obligations even by verbal 
changes, but once for all acknowledging them, 
as I now do, and to have put these facts in a 
somewhat clearer point of view, — to have, in 
fact, employed upon them the little analysis 
and generalization they seemed to require, 
to have more clearly established the truth 
that this one-sidedness is the general cause 
of deformity, and that its prevention requires 
an equal and similar use of the other side. 

Beside this^ however, I have endeavoured 
to contribute my full share of new materials. 
Various points mentioned under 66 Peculi- 
arities of the Present System," as the beau- 
tiful Indian Exercises, the yet more important 



Xll. 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



Principles of Attitude and Gesture, and the 
observations on Arbitrary Forms and Natural 
Politeness in relation to the Spirit of the Age, 
have, I believe, the claim of perfect novelty. 

D. W. 

1st November, 1835. 



N.B. — I beg to refer to Mr. Goadby, of No. 97, B. in 
the Quadrant, Regent Street, as being, of all these Exercises, 
by far the best Teacher with whom I am acquainted. 

Of the same gentleman, or of the Publisher, Mr. Hurst, 
65, St. PauPs Church Yard, may be had the Indian Scep- 
tres, or whatever else may be required in these Exercises. 
Ladies, however, who from any cause find it diflicult to 
procure Sceptres, may have made, by any carpenter, two 
pieces of plain and smooth wood, about two feet long, (in- 
cluding the narrower portion for a handle, to terminate in a 
knob), and loaded with lead at their lower and larger 
extremity, so as to furnish any convenient weight, as two, 
three, or four pounds. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Preliminary Observations . . .1 

General Utility of Exercises . . 1 
Peculiarities of the Present System . 6 

Part I. — Reasonings on which are founded the 

Exercises here employed . . . 11 
Of the Structure of the Body as connected 
with Exercise . . . .11 

Of the Body generally . . 11 

Of the Vertebral Column in particular 13 
Important Circumstances to be noted 15 
Of the Functions of the Body as affected 

by Exercise . . . .17 

Of the Constraint to which the Body is 

wrongly subjected . . .24 

Of the Debility which is caused by Con- 
straint . . . .26 



b 



CONTENTS. 

Page 

Of the Wrong Positions which result from 
Debility, and from the employment, in 
the particular Pursuits of Education, or 
the Common Acts of Life, of Muscles 
unfavourably situated . . .28 

In Standing . 29 
In Sitting . . .30 

In Writing . . .30 

In Drawing . . . .31 

In Guitar-Playing . . 33 

In Harp-Playing . . .34 
In Riding ... 35 
In Lying in Bed . . .37 

Of the Deformity in which Wrong Posi- 
tions terminate ... 38 
The injury thus done to the Loco- 
motive Organs and Functions, or 
those on which General Motion 
depends . . . .38 

The Injury thus done to the Vital 
Organs and Functions, or those on 
which Life depends . . 46 

The Injury thus done to the Mental 
Organs and Functions, or those on 
which Thought depends . . 48 

Of the Particular and Special Utility of 
Exercises . . . .53 



CONTEXTS. XV. 

Page 

Part II. — Particular Exercises . . 60 

Of the Kinds of Exercise . . 60 

Passive Exercises . . . ' 61 

Mixed Exercises . . .65 

Active Exercises — Of Position . 67 

Of Standing Generally . . 67 

Fundamental Position . . 70 

Positions in Dancing . . 72 

The Extension Motions . . 75 

The Exercise with the Rod . .79 

1st. Exercise ... 79 

2d. Exercise . . .79 

3d. Exercise ... 80 

4th. Exercise . . .80 

The Dumb-Bells ... 81 
1st. Exercise . . .82 

2d. Exercise ... 83 
3d. Exercise ... .83 
4th. Exercise ... 83 
The Indian Sceptre Exercise . . 84 

The Portion practised with Clubs in the 

Army . . . .84 

The New and more Beautiful Portion 
now added from the Indian Practice 86 
The Position in Walking . . 90 

Proper Position . . .90 

Military Position . . 91 



XVi. CONTENTS. 

Page 

The Balance Step . . .92 

Without Gaining Ground . 92 

Gaining Ground . . .93 

Walking .... 94 

Walking in General . 94 

General Mechanism of Walking 96 

The Slow Walk or March . 98 
The Moderate and the Quick Pace 99 

The Moderate Pace . . 100 

The Quick Pace . . 101 

Slow Step . . . .104 

Quick Step ... 105 

Double March . . .105 

Particular Utility of Walking . 107 

Running and Leaping . . .109 

Exercises for the Feet . . 110 

Bends in Position . . .110 

Battemens in Position . . Ill 

The Circles . . .114 

Part III. — Combinations of Exercise . .116 

Dancing . . . . 116 

General Remarks . . .116 

General Utility of Dancing . 132 

Style . . .133 
Of the Feet, &c. . .134 

Of the Arms and Hands . . 136 

Of the Bust . .. .139 



CONTENTS. Xvii. 

Page 

Of the Head ... 141 

Of the Whole Figure . . 142 

Peculiar Manner . . 143 

Continuance . . ' . 144 

Particular Utility of Dancing . 145 

Gesture . . . . .150 

General Remarks . . 150 



Principle of Attitude in the Fine 
Arts; applicable to Gesture in 
Oratory, to Sculpture, the higher 
species of Painting, &c, as well 
as to Dancing . . 151 



Part IV. — Applications of Exercises to the Con- 



duct of Life 


. 170 


Deportment .... 


170 


The Gymnastique de Tronchin . 


. 206 


Appendix — Games .... 


210 


Le Diable Boiteux . 


. 211 


La Grace 


211 


Skipping Rope 


. 211 


Shuttlecock and Battledoor . 


212 


Bow and Arrow 


. 212 


Appropriation of Exercise 


213 


Guidance of Exercises 


. 223 



LIST OF PLATES. 



To face page 



Plate t. Wrong and Right Position in Writing 30 

ii. Wrong and Right Position in Drawing 31 

in. Wrong and Right Position in Guitar-playing 33 

iv. Wrong and Right Position in Harp-playing 34 

v. Wrong and Right Position in Riding 35 

vi. Wrong and Right Position in Lying in Bed 37 

vii. The Curved Spine and the Natural one...... 43 

viii. Fundamental and other Positions 71 

ix. Positions in Dancing 74 

x. Extension Motions 76 

xi. Extension Motions 77 

xn. Exercises with the Rod 79 

xm. Exercises with the Rod 80 

xiv. Exercises with Dumb-bells 82 

xv. Exercises with Dumb-bells 83 

xvi. Indian Sceptre Exercise 84 

xvn. Indian Sceptre Exercise 85 

xviii. Indian Sceptre Exercise 86 



XX, LIST OF PLATES. 

To face page 

xix. Indian Sceptre Exercise 86 

xx. Indian Sceptre Exercise 87 

xxi. Indian Sceptre Exercise 88 

xxii. Indian Sceptre Exercise 89 

xxm. Walking— The Slow Walk 98 

xxiv. Walking — The Moderate Pace 100 

xxv. Walking — The Quick Pace 101 

xxvi. Exercises of the Feet — Bends and Batte- 

mens Ill 

xxvu. Exercises of the Feet — Battemens and 

Circles 113 

xxviii. Attitude — The Laocoon 158 

xxix. Attitude — Mercury, Dancing Fawn, &c. . . 161 
xxx. Attitude — Dancing Masters' Attitudes 169 

xxxi. Deportment — The Curtsey 196 

xxxii. Deportment — The Curtsey, <fcc 197 

xxxin. Deportment — Getting into Carriage, &c. 205 



EXERCISES FOR LADIES. 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



GENERAL UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 

Medical writers of all countries have strong, 
ly insisted upon the utility of exercise. 

"The age of infancy," says Tissfft, a French 
writer,* u is consecrated by nature to those 
exercises which fortify and strengthen the body, 
and not to study, which enfeebles it, and pre- 
vents its proper increase and development." 

"This first epoch of Life/' says Sinibaldi, 
an Italian writer,*}- " to the age of seven, 
ought to be entirely consecrated to the per- 

* On the Health of Men of Letters. 

+ On The Science of Man, or Anthropology. 

B 



2 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



feet development of the organization of chil- 
dren, and by the agency of physical education, 
to render them as healthy, robust, and strong, 
as the nature of man will permit." 

"The mind ought never to be cultivated 
at the expense of the body," says Spurzheim, 
a German writer ; # "physical education ought 
to precede that of the intellect, and then pro- 
ceed simultaneously with it, without culti- 
vating one faculty to the neglect of others; 
for health is the base, and instruction the 
ornament of education." 

" He [who is thus brought up] has gained," 
says Brig^m, an American writer,f " what 
is far, very far more valuable than any 
mental acquirements which a child may make, 
viz. a sound body, well developed organs, 
senses that have all been perfected by exer- 
cises, and stamina which will enable him in 
future life to study or labor with energy and 
without injury." 

* Essay on the Elementary Principles of Education, 
t Work on Education, by A. Brigham of Hartford, in 
Connecticut, U. S. 



GENERAL UTILITY" OF EXERCISES. 



3 



" In every system of education/' says Dr. 
Marshall Hall, " at female seminaries, as well 
as at boys' boarding-schools, a plan of regular 
and active exercises should form an essential 
part ; the want of exercise not only leads to 
general feebleness of the frame, and of the 
mind, but it frequently sadly interferes with 
the growth and development of the form. # 

" No artificial means," says Dr. Duffin,f 
"can be regarded as substitutes for active and 
judiciously guided exercise. This alone can 
preserve the frame of the body perfect in its 
symmetry. . . . Nothing tends so much to 
the due performance of all the mental opera- 
tions, as a sound, a vigorous, a well-made 
frame. The mind has no actions, which it 
performs in a state dissevered from the body. 
At each distinct operation of its subtile labour, 
it exhausts a fixed and definite proportion of 
nervous energy, and cannot renew its labours 

* On Diseases of Female Youth. 

t On Lateral Deformity of the Spine— a work which 
every parent should possess, and to which I am indebted 
for many remarks. 

B 2 



4 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



beyond a certain limit, till the blood, ren- 
dered nutrient by food, renovates, in its 
course, the nerves whose power has been ex- 
hausted. Hence, exercise is not only useful 
in adding to the symmetry of the form, but 
also in lighting up and invigorating the spark 
by which that form is animated and beau- 
tified." 

On the faulty and imperfect exercises in- 
troduced into this country under the name of 
Callisthenics, Dr. DuflSn, in the same excel- 
lent work on Lateral Deformity of the Spine, 
observes that "when first introduced into 
this country, they were of much too athletic 
and violent a kind; but, by judgment and 
experience, they are at length reduced to a 
series of graceful, dignified, and natural move- 
ments, admirably adapted to promote an 
equable evolution of the physical powers, and 
to call into action, in regular succession, every 
part of the muscular system. In the pre- 
vention of deformity, these exercises, properly 
conducted, are invaluable, and by their influ- 
ence on the general health, through the medium 



GENERAL UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



5 



of the muscular system, have, in numerous in-* 
stances, wherein obliquity has actually taken 
place? alone sufficed to remedy the evil." 

These extracts afford specimens of the opi- 
nions of the ablest physicians of various coun- 
tries, respecting the utility of exercises. 

Improved Callisthenics, accordingly, are 
taught in the principal English, as well as 
foreign boarding-schools; and it is univer- 
sally stated that those ladies who have been 
subjected to its discipline have acquired 
strength, improved health and more elevated 
stature, as well as firmness, ease and grace, 
in their motions, while many have been cured 
of disagreeable deformities without any, the 
slightest, accident resulting from it. 



6 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



PECULIARITIES OF THE PRESENT 
SYSTEM. 

It is universally complained that the exer- 
cises for ladies at present taught are in many 
instances frivolous, in other instances severe, 
in all destitute of system ; and the employ- 
ment of soldiers to teach young ladies to 
walk, a practice adopted by many parents 
and heads of seminaries, is generally depre- 
cated. 

The military principles of exercise are in 
most instances excellent; but the stiffness 
acquired under the practical tuition of ser- 
geants and corporals, is justly observed to 
be u adverse to all the principles of grace, 
and destructive of that buoyant lightness 
which is so conducive to ease and elegance in 
the young." 

It is my wish here to combine whatever is 
really good in the military principles, and in 
the exercises for ladies as at present taught, 
to reject what is injurious, to add what 
seems equally new and necessary, and to 



PECULIARITIES OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. 7 

present a system suited to the female consti- 
tution, nature, and character. 

Of the exercises which I here recommend, 
none accordingly require more strength than 
the young female possesses, none entail the 
slightest inconvenience, and all, while they 
best bestow health, strength, and activity, 
are calculated to preserve grace and beauty. 
The whole, I trust, are well suited to the 
development of the physical faculties in 
young females, without injury to the per- 
fection of the moral ones. 

The introductory views which I give of 
the structure of the body as connected with 
exercise, — of its functions as affected by ex- 
ercise, — of the constraint to which it is 
wrongly subjected, — of the debility which 
this causes, — of the wrong positions which 
result from this debility and from the par- 
ticular pursuits of education when ill di- 
rected, — of the deformity in which these ter- 
minate, — of the injury to health and to 
intellect which accompanies this, — and of the 
particular and special utility of exercises,— 



8 



PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 



these views will be acceptable to every parent 
who desires to know the reasoning by which 
is guided the education of those who are 
dearest to him. 

The particular exercises, as already said, 
equally reject whatever is frivolous and what- 
ever is severe, retaining all that contributes 
to health, strength, beauty of form, and grace 
of motion. 

To obtain the correct position of the figure, 
the military position of the whole figure,* 
the positions for the feet in dancing, the mili- 
tary extensions for the arms, and the Spanish 
exercise, are given. 

To increase the power and freedom of the 
arms, the use of dumb-bells, and, which is 
far more valuable, that of the Indian Scep- 
tres, is described— the latter deriving its name 
from the form of the instrument which ladies 
employ, instead of the Indian Clubs used by 

* The military principles and practices are duly appre- 
ciated throughout this work, as those found by the most 
extensive experience on the most unfavourable subjects, to 
be upon the whole the best calculated to prevent or remedy 
every tendency to deformity. 



PECULIARITIES OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM. 9 

men. — A few of the simplest and most ele- 
mentary of these exercises are now taught to 
soldiers for the same purpose for which they 
are here given: all the more graceful ones 
are here for the first time added for ladies. 
The latter will be found to be by far the 
most useful and most beautiful exercises that 
ever were introduced into physical education ; 
having vast advantages over the dumb-bells 
in both these respects, and rendering indeed 
all other exercises for the arms quite useless. 
Of these beautiful exercises, both the more 
simple military ones, and the more advanced 
and graceful ones now added, are here for the 
first time described in any work. 

To improve the lower limbs, the position in 
walking, the balance step, the mechanism of 
walking in all the paces, and various exer- 
cises for the feet, are described ; the art of 
walking well being particularly attended to, 
and more accurately described than usual. 

Observations on dancing are subjoined ; 
new and more accurate principles of attitude 
and gesture are enunciated and illustrated ; 



4 



10 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 

and a series of remarks on deportment, &c, 
are added. 

The Gymnastique de Tronchin, as the 
French call it, and games of exercise, are 
noticed. 

Lastly, the appropriation and guidance of 
exercises are discussed. 



PART I. 

REASONINGS ON WHICH ARE FOUNDED 
THE EXERCISES HERE EMPLOYED. 



OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE BODY AS 
CONNECTED WITH EXERCISE. 

OF THE BODY GENERALLY. 

In relation to the purpose of exercise, the body 
may be regarded as composed of many levers, 
connected with and moveable upon each other in 
various degrees. 

The bones more especially constitute the levers, 
upon which all the greater motions depend. 

The joints or articulations at once connect 
these levers, and facilitate their motion. 

To form these joints, the ends of the bones are 
rounded, remarkably smooth, and lubricated with 
a peculiar liquid; are surrounded by protecting 
capsules or bags; and are united, laterally or 
otherwise, by ligaments, which limit the direction 
of their motions. — Between some of their ends 



12 



STRUCTURE OF THE BODY, 



exist also moveable cartilages, by which their 
motions are extended, and all shocks which pass 
through them are diminished. 

The muscles, generally disposed in pairs on 
each side of the body, are the moving powers. 

These bundles of muscular fibres form the 
layers and masses of flesh which lie between the 
skin and the various bones, which cover the neck, 
the back, the sides, the pelvis or haunches and 
hips, and which principally give shape to the 
limbs. Almost every muscle is fixed to two differ- 
ent bones by its extremities; and its middle in 
general passes more loosely over one or more 
joints which it is destined to move. 

Of the peculiar mechanism of muscular motion, 
it is enough here to say, that these muscles re- 
ceive nerves which communicate with the lesser 
brain (the cerebel or organ of the will) ; and 
when that organ wills a movement, it, through 
these nerves, excites those muscles which are to 
be the means of the particular operation to shorten 
and swell up. N ow, as the muscles cannot bring 
their fixed extremities nearer to each other with- 
out also bringing, along with these, the bones to 
which they are attached, the intermediate joint 
or joints are bent, and motion takes place in the 
limb, or throughout the body. 



VERTEBRAL COLUMN. 13 

Such is the general mechanism of all our 
greater motions. 

OF THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN IN PARTICULAR. 

One of the most important portions of this lo 
comotive fabric is the vertebral column, spinal 
column, or backbone, as it is commonly called. 

The back-bone is a pillar composed of twenty- 
four short bones, called vertebrae, having some- 
what cylindrical bodies before, a bony ring in the 
middle, an irregular projection on each side, and 
another altogether behind. These are placed one 
upon another, the smaller being always upper- 
most; and they extend from the large bones that 
support the body, when sitting, to the lowest part 
of the head. 

These small bones or vertebrae are connected 
together by the whole of the flat upper and under 
surfaces of their bodies, a thick cartilage being 
interposed between every two; and they are also 
connected by the apposition of certain lateral 
projections or processes. They are maintained 
in their relative position by means of small bun- 
dles of strong and elastic ligamentous fibres, at- 
tached firmly to the margins of their bodies, and 
to the projections of every two bones. 

c 



14 



STRUCTURE OF THE BODY, 



The position of the back-bone or spinal column, 
thus formed and connected, is, in all its lateral 
relations to the plane on which we stand, per- 
fectly perpendicular ; but it is naturally curved 
anteriorly and posteriorly. 

While, by the cartilaginous connexion of the 
bodies of the vertebrse, and by the disposition of 
some parts of the projections that have been men- 
tioned, joints are formed, and provision is made 
for the column being bent in every direction, 
other projections allow certain muscles at once 
to take firm hold, and greatly to increase their 
purchase in actually bending the spinal column. 

The moving power of the vertebral column is 
composed of these muscles. Being chiefly at- 
tached to the sides and back of each vertebra, 
they form two considerable masses of fleshy fibres 
placed one on each side of the ridge in the mid- 
dle of the back. 

These masses exert such balancing power over 
every separate bone or vertebra in relation to or 
upon that placed immediately beneath it, as to 
keep the whole pile at rest and upright, in regard 
to its lateral aspect. They bend it also both la- 
terally and backward. It is chiefly by other 
muscles on the fore part of the body that it is 
bended forwards. By the whole, it may be bent 



IMPORTANT CIRCUMSTANCES. 



15 



in any requisite direction within certain limits; 
and, after performing its various inflexions, it is, 
by means of its elastic ligaments and other mus- 
cles, enabled to regain the vertical position. 

Thus each of the four-and-twenty vertebrse, or 
small bones of the spinal column, is a lever, whose 
support or fulcrum is the upper surface of the 
somewhat larger vertebra upon which it rests. 

IMPORTANT CIRCUMSTANCES TO BE NOTED. 

Having very briefly described this column, it 
is here especially necessary to observe, that the 
bones of adults owe their solidity to an earthy 
material, called phosphate of lime; but that the 
bones of infants contain very little of this matter, 
and are, accordingly, very soft and flexible. In 
proportion, however, as more earthy matter is 
added, the bones of children become harder and 
less flexible; and this hardening increases till 
the prime of life, when no trace of the soft part, 
or cartilage, on or in which the bony matter was 
deposited, can be observed. The progress of this 
hardening of the bones may, by various causes, 
be accelerated or retarded. — This, obviously, is 
important in relation to the constrained positions 
to which girls are subjected. 

c 2 



16 



STRUCTURE OF THE BODY. 



It is equally worthy of observation that, in 
youth, all the bones are formed in various distinct 
pieces, and that these pieces long continue very 
imperfectly connected. Thus every long bone 
consists of three separate pieces during early 
youth, and these do not become perfectly con- 
solidated till the age of sixteen, eighteen, or 
later. — This also is important in relation to the 
constrained positions to which girls are subjected. 

It is perhaps still more worthy of observation, 
that not only do these causes of flexibility exist 
in the bones in general, but that, in relation to 
the vertebral column, or back-bone, the substance 
interposed between every two vertebrae — the in- 
tervertebral substance, is liable, by long-continued 
pressure or extension, to be permanently altered 
in thickness' at any part, and thereby to alter 
also the direction of the vertebral column. — This 
is, perhaps, still more important in relation to the 
constrained positions to which girls are subjected t 

It is most worthy of observation, that through- 
out the centre of this flexible spinal column exists 
a somewhat three-sided tube, for the purpose of 
containing the portion of the nervous system, im- 
properly denominated the spinal marrow, a ner- 
vous or brainy production, on which the sensation 
and motion of the body and limbs depend, and 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



17 



which is connected superiorly with the greater 
brain before, and the lesser behind. — This is of the 
very greatest importance in relation to the con- 
strained positions to which girls are subjected. 



OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY AS 
AFFECTED BY EXERCISE. 

The movements of the body are of two kinds. 

The first take place without consciousness or 
any act of the will. They consist of the exer- 
cise of the vital functions for the preservation 
and support of life; as of the stomach, intestines, 
heart, &c. and also of the exercise of all the mus- 
cles when they act involuntarily. 

The second are the movements performed con- 
sciously and voluntarily, when we put in action 
any muscle for a particular purpose. It is these 
last which constitute exercise. 

By exercise, the power of the muscular fibres 
is increased. 

When a limb is moved, the muscles which are 
actuated swell by the more frequent and copious 
flow of blood into them, and heat is developed, 

c3 



18 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



If the motion be long continued, the limb grows 
stiff ; a sensation of lassitude is felt; and a diffi- 
culty of further contraction is the result. If the 
motion were violent, and the blood were called 
in excess into the limb, inflammation might arise. 

If, on the contrary, after intervals of repose, 
we perform the same motions, and many times 
repeat this, we observe an increase of bulk and 
energy in the part, in consequence of the more 
active conversion of nutritious matters into its 
substance, and also a perfection of action which 
was not previously enjoyed. 

Hence, in labouring men, the limbs employed 
in their occupation are larger in proportion than 
the rest : this is the case with the arms of smiths, 
bakers, boxers, wrestlers, &c. and the legs of 
porters, couriers, dancers, &c. 

This increase of size has nothing to do with 
fatness : on the contrary, exercise tends to make 
the body lean. Labouring men, hunters, and 
soldiers, are not fat; but their flesh is firm and 
strong, because the habit of exercise has con- 
ferred these qualities on their muscles. 

This effect is still more evident amongst 
animals. 

Those cooped up where they cannot suffici- 
ently employ their muscles, have the flesh deli- 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



19 



cate, tender, white and fat, and are without 
strength enough to escape from their destroyer. 
The flesh of wild fowls, on the contrary, is firm, 
hard, dark coloured, and lean — proofs of strength 
and vigor. 

Generally speaking, the effect of active exer- 
cises on any part or any animal, is greater the 
more it is in motion. 

The person, however, who is constantly em- 
ployed in muscular exercises never acquires great 
strength. If continued exercises are also violent, 
what is gained does not make up for what is lost, 
and he wastes quickly. 

If, on the contrary, exercise and repose are 
alternate, it favours nutrition and the develop- 
ment of muscular power. 

The person, then, who acquires the greatest 
strength is he who practises muscular exercises 
which require great force, but who follows them 
up by sufficient intervals of repose. 

To have an idea of the extensive effects of 
exercise on the rest of the organization, it is 
enough to observe that the locomotive muscles 
and their levers, the bones, form a mass much 
larger and heavier than all the other organs, 
and that their actions also are by far the largest 
and most powerful. It is thence evident how vast 



20 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



must be the influence of the repeated and continued 
action of such organs on the rest of the economy. 

When the body is in a state of repose, the in- 
terior functions are, indeed, in exercise ; but, as 
the organs which execute them do not receive 
any impulse or excitement from without, their 
action is slow and feeble. Not only the muscles 
themselves lose their suppleness and energy; 
the whole organization is enfeebled ; and, if the 
state of repose continue, the strongest man will 
ultimately become weak and indisposed. 

On the contrary, under the influence of exer- 
cise, the interior functions increase in activity 
and power. 

It has been observed that the cerebel or little 
brain, by means of the nerves acting upon the 
muscles, excites them to produce motion : it may 
now be added that the heart gives to the muscles 
a similar excitement, or rather the means of 
acting by pouring into them the blood ; be- 
cause, if we were to intercept the blood which is 
sent to them by that organ, they would soon be 
unable to contract, and their active power would 
finally cease. 

Thus the nervous system and the system of the 
blood-vessels are evidently the two principal 
causes which determine the muscular contractions, 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



21 



As, however, every thing is united and depen- 
dant in the economy of animal life, the muscles 
cannot be put in action or be exercised without 
reacting on the brain by means of other nerves, 
and on the heart by means of the returning ves- 
sels or veins. Thus the heart and brain, being 
again more stimulated, return an additional sti- 
mulus to the muscles themselves, and to all the 
organs. 

In this way, the contractions of the muscles 
produce a general excitement, making all the or- 
gans partake of their activity. It is thus that 
every one must have observed, after active exer- 
cise, those effects, the very causes of which we 
are now explaining, namely, palpitation of the 
heart, high pulse, heat, redness of the skin, per- 
spiration, &c. 

If we now wish, for example's sake, to apply 
these simple physiological principles to explain 
the influence of exercise upon digestion, we can 
understand how the organs whose duty it is to 
perform this vital function, increase, by exercise, 
in strength and power. If the stomach be empty, 
exercise accordingly creates or increases the ap- 
petite, and ensures a more speedy, easy, and per- 
fect, digestion. — It must, however, be observed 
that violent exercise too long continued exhausts 



22 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



the common energy of all the organs, and con- 
sequently troubles and disorders the movements 
of the stomach, and thus injures the digestion. 

As to the circulation, it has already been seen 
that exercise accelerates the palpitations of the 
heart and the action of the blood-vessels. — The 
same thing occurs with respiration, which becomes 
quick in proportion to the force and activity of 
our external motions. 

It is, however, in its effect upon the nourish- 
ment and material composition of the body, that 
it is most interesting, in relation to the present 
views, to notice the consequence of exercise. It 
is especially in contributing to this function that 
exercise spreads equally over the body, heat and 
vital energy, and maintains an equilibrium among 
all the functions. 

Even the sensations receive from action new 
excitement. We know that, after long repose, 
the intellect becomes dull, and that by the effect 
of exercise, not so great as to fatigue, perceptions 
of some kinds arise more freely, and the intellec- 
tual faculties are reanimated. 

Sleep, on the contrary, placing the brain in an 
inactive state, it follows that its too frequent repe- 
tition, and especially its excessive prolongation, 
must enervate that organ. Thus, too much sleep 



FUNCTIONS OF THE BODY. 



23 



not only benumbs the brain, it also directly de- 
bilitates it. 

It appears, however, that active muscular ex- 
ercises leave those particular organs of the brain 
which have reference to moral qualities and in- 
tellectual faculties in a state of repose. The 
action of the brain during exercise seems limited 
to those of its organs which direct the movements. 

The local effects of active exercises, or those 
that take place in the members in action, when 
these exercises are carried too far, are, as has 
been said, inflammation of the muscles, rheuma- 
tism, &c. 

The general effects of too great indulgence in 
muscular exercises, are the exhaustion of the 
cerebral and spinal nervous system, and propor- 
tionally of all the organs depending thereon. 

If exercise be indulged in too much, but not 
so constantly, it makes individuals appear pre- 
maturely old. 

This last is an important consideration to those 
for whom this work is written. The error they 
commit, however, is not likely to be of this, but 
the opposite kind, which is more surely and im- 
mediately fatal to health and beauty. 



24 



OF THE CONSTRAINT TO WHICH THE 
BODY IS WRONGLY SUBJECTED. 

The excessive, or too long continued, action of 
locomotive organs, is not so frequently injurious 
to them in women, as is the state of inactivity, 
arising from constraint, by which their structure 
is often wasted and their capability of action lost. 

I agree with Dr. Duffin that " the state of 
deficiency in the consolidation of the bodies of 
the vertebrae results, in many instances, from the 
present enfeebling system of conducting female 
education, " and that stays, adding constraint to 
enfeeblement, u prove doubly injurious if used 
before the body has acquired its full growth, be- 
cause, at that period especially, the body is capa- 
ble of being moulded into any shape the fashion 
of the time may consider most becoming," — a 
circumstance which the Doctor illustrates by a 
striking diagram, for which I refer the reader to 
his excellent work.* 

I dissent, however, from the Doctor in his think- 
ing that " a moderate and equable degree of com- 

* A somewhat similar drawing is given by the celebrated 
Soemmering ; but I have not seen it. 



CONSTRAINT OF THE BODY 



25 



pression, given to muscles much called into exer- 
cise, so that it does not unduly interfere with 
their power of contraction, is undoubtedly 'bene- 
ficial. " 

There is, I will venture to assert, no "compres- 
sion of muscles'' that does not "interfere with 
their power of contraction," or that is not inju- 
rious exactly in proportion to its "degree"; and 
the more muscles are "called into action," the 
more injurious must such " compression" always 
be! — This mistake arises from the utility, real or 
supposed, of belts around the loins; but such 
utility, if it exists, depends on their supporting 
the internal abdominal organs, not on their 
"compression of muscles." 

The Doctor's views on this subject, however, 
are generally much bolder than those of his pre- 
decessors, and this, I believe, is the only faulty 
concession he makes to popular opinion. Hence 
it is with great truth that, speaking practically, 
the Doctor says " Remove the constraint of dress, 
and the young lady instantly complains of weak- 
ness in her back — of inability to support herself 
erect."* 

* In speaking thus freely of this able writer and practi- 
tioner, who is doing far more than any other to correct the 
barbarous practices in institutions for female education, I give 
the best proof of perfect impartiality. 

D 



26 



DEBILITY CAUSED BY CONSTRAINT. 



To the constraint of dress, is added the ab- 
sence, I may almost say the impossibility, of ex- 
ercise. 

The only exercises indeed to which, in their 
hours of relaxation, young ladies have access, are 
in general only a few insignificant games, or 
amusements extremely limited, from the nature 
of the space afforded for the purposes of exercise. 
Even these are in general carefully prohibited as 
soon as the pupils enter into them with ardor, 
and perhaps properly so ; for exercise indulged 
in without any regulation might produce real 
inconveniences, which a system composed of 
select exercises, suited to the age and strength of 
the pupil, does not produce. 



OF THE DEBILITY WHICH IS CAUSED BY 
CONSTRAINT. 

It has been already said that continued repose 
of a member decreases nutrition in it, and sub- 
jects it to waste : the irritability caused by move- 
ment not taking place, the flow of the blood 
which it caused ceases also. 

To decrease of nutrition , appears to be added 



DEBILITY CAUSED BY CONSTRAINT. 27 



a weakening of the function from want of use : 
the member having been for some time in a state 
of repose, has no longer similar power. 

The proofs of this are innumerable; being 
afforded by all the acts of our lives in which 
habit is more or less irregular. We feel that 
they are less perfectly repeated after intervals of 
cessation. 

If this repose endure for a long time, move- 
ment of the limb becomes almost impossible. 

It would appear also that, with the enfeebling 
of the muscles and the diminution of the calibre 
of their vessels, occurs also a defect in the exha- 
lation of the membranes of the joints or arti- 
culations. 

When to this is added that pressure which 
produces absorption and waste of the supporting 
muscles, the organic injury is at its height — the 
means of adequate support are gone. — A medical 
friend mentions to me an instance, which he 
himself witnessed, of several of the muscles of 
the neck being partially divided by the long 
continued use of a tight necklace. 

Hence persons who have long been accus- 
tomed to the support of tight stays find it almost 
impossible to lay them aside, because their sud- 
den discontinuance induces the most distressing 

d 2 



28 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 



feeling of the weakness which constraint has 
produced. 

Unhappily, the means almost always employed 
to compensate for this persevering" destruction of 
natural power, is encreased use of its causes. 

The final consequence of this is stated by 
Portal, who says, " Persons adopting such 
means, are sure to become distorted whenever 
the artificial props are removed. " 



OF THE WRONG POSITIONS WHICH RE- 
SULT FROM DEBILITY, AND FROM THE 
EMPLOYMENT, IN THE PARTICULAR 
PURSUITS OF EDUCATION, OR THE 
COMMON ACTS OF LIFE, OF MUSCLES 
UNFAVOURABLY SITUATED. 

Now, the use of stays and other restraints, as 
well as sedentary habits, causing, in the manner 
just described, debility of many of the muscles, 
naturally induces the use, in the particular pur- 
suits of education or the common acts of life, of 
other muscles, of which the power is less im- 
paired, but which are less favourably situated 
for the purpose in view. 



IN STANDING. 



29 



This is the great cause of wrong positions of 
the figure, and all their fatal consequences. 

The following are a few of the most remarkable 
of the wrong positions resulting from debility or 
from the improper employment of the muscles in 
such cases. All of them have been more or less 
noticed by writers on deformity, except perhaps 
that connected with the guitar and the corrective 
means it may afford, the peculiar effects of riding 
on horseback, and the general truth as to one- 
sidedness to which most of them tend. 

IN STANDING. 

Boys compelled to stand during a long lesson 
relieve the muscles that maintain the body erect, 
by balancing themselves on one leg, which is 
generally the left, in order that the more active 
right may be free. This throws out the hip, 
hollows the body, and depresses the shoulder of 
the side on which they stand. If this be the left, 
it raises the right shoulder. 

Girls, during the same act, relieve themselves 
by passing one hand round the back, so as to 
support it, and they thereby draw down the 
opposite elbow, and consequently the opposite 
shoulder. 

d 3 



30 WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 

IN SITTING. 

By sitting always on the same side of the fire 
or window, persons lean to one side, and thereby 
depress the shoulder of that side, and raise the 
opposite one. 

Girls, in sitting, contract a habit of balancing 
the body upon one hip, and of throwing on it the 
weight of all the parts above it, by drawing the 
spine to that side, and leaning the head and neck 
to the other. This raises relatively the shoulder 
of the side on which they rest, as is seen when 
they stand erect and carefully retain the same 
position of the trunk. 

A deviation from this circumstance (of the 
shoulder of the side on which they rest being 
raised in sitting) takes place in occupations 
which engage the right hand and arm. Though 
the body rests on the left hip and is still hollowed 
on the right side, the right shoulder is greatly 
raised, in order to facilitate its motion. 

IN WRITING. 

This takes place in w r riting, and is illustrated 
in Plate I. Being a frequent act, which the 
right arm can alone perform, and in which the 
right shoulder is always raised, it is one of the 



IN DRAWING. 



most injurious, and tends greatly to throw the 
lateral deviation toward the right shoulder. 

To remedy this tendency, it has been recom- 
mended to equalize the shoulders, by placing a 
book under the left elbow, 

IN DRAWING. 

In drawing, as in writing, both sexes are apt 
to acquire the habit of sitting, with an inclina- 
tion of the body to the left side, the left arm 
resting on the elbow or hanging by the side, and 
sometimes with the palette in the left hand, 
whilst the right arm and shoulder are raised, 
for the purpose of directing the pencil, the 
head being leant to the left shoulder. — (See 
Plate II.) This also tends greatly to throw the 
lateral deviation toward the right shoulder. 

The able artist, Mr. Frank Howard, who has 
favoured me by making the Drawings for this 
work, and whose creative mind and ready hand 
have in these, as in many other matters, no rival 
with which I am acquainted, obliges me also by 
the following valuable observations on the false 
position in drawing. 

" On the position in drawing, I would only 
add to your description of the improper one, 
that there is a tendency to throw all the weight 



32 WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 

on the left elbow, for the purpose of having 
greater liberty with the right arm ; and that the 
evil of this is increased by the height of the desk 
or table on which the drawing is placed. A habit 
is thus contracted of leaning over the drawing, 
and resting the chest against the edge of the 
table, which is productive of contraction, of 
vital derangements, and at the same time of a 
cramped manner of drawing, sufficiently objec- 
tionable in itself. 

" The proper position, when sitting, is to have 
the drawing considerably lower than the waist, 
and to sit erect without throwing any weight on 
the left hip, elbow, or hand. The drawing can 
be seen better, the whole of it being visible at 
one glance; and much greater freedom in the 
style must result from the removal of the real 
constraint of the right arm. 

" In fact, the object for which so much is 
sacrificed in the false position, is gained in the 
true one, without any sacrifice at all. It is 
admitted that in the false position, there is not 
so much liberty for the hand to disobey the eye — 
it cannot go so far or so fast in an erroneous 
direction; but this mode of controlling the hand 
is quite a delusion, as in the true position it will 
have much greater scope to obey the mind, 
6 



IN GUITAR-PLAYING. 



33 



which, after all, is the only true source whence 
capability of drawing is derived. 

" The advantages, therefore, of commencing 
drawing in the true position are twofold; first, 
with regard to the attainment of the art, and, 
secondly, with regard to the preservation of 
health and of beauty of figure. " 

IN GUITAR-PLAYING. 

In playing on the guitar, in some instances, the 
right knee is elevated to support the instrument, 
and the right shoulder is slightly raised. This is 
avoided by the far preferable position of Sor. 
— (See Plate III.) The practice alluded to, 
therefore, tends further to throw the lateral 
deviation toward the right shoulder. 

More frequently, perhaps, the guitar is rested 
in the lap, the left foot is placed on a stool, and 
the left shoulder is raised. This of course tends 
to throw the deviation in that direction. 

The present is the proper place to observe 
that, for a lady who also plays on the harp, or is 
engaged much in any other pursuit which tends 
to raise the right shoulder, the last mode of 
playing on the guitar, which raises the left 
shoulder, is preferable, as counteracting the 
opposite tendency of the other pursuit. 



34 WRONG POSITIONS TOR DEBILITY. 



On this observation as to these two instru- 
ments, may be founded a general rule as to 
rinding similar compensations in all. 

Unfortunately, however, these pursuits are in 
general solitary; and their peculiar tendency to 
the right or to the left, is unchecked by any 
other countervailing circumstance. Nay, when 
one is a principal and predominating occupation, 
there always exists a strong tendency to assume 
the same attitude and position in every other 
action of life. Hence an insensibly growing, 
and at last irremediable, deformity. 

IN HARP-PLAYING. 

In playing on the harp, the right shoulder is 
at once raised and thrown back, because the 
treble strings, which engage the right hand, are 
placed higher and further back; while the base 
strings, which engage the left hand, are placed 
lower and further forward. — (See Plate IV.) 
Here, then, occurs a twist of the body which 
cannot fail of being detrimental to those who 
have not attained their full growth, as well as 
an elevation of the right shoulder, still further 
increasing the tendency to deviation in that 
direction. 



35 



IN RIDING. 

In riding on horseback, the body is somewhat 
similarly twisted, and the right shoulder is apt 
to be thrown upward (See Plate V.), increasing 
apparently the tendency to deviation in that 
direction.* 

This tendency, however, will in general be only 
apparent ; for, while the right shoulder is thrown 
upward, the right haunch is often still more thrown 
upward, and the whole of the right side is short- 
ened; so that, were the lady to be placed on her 
feet, extending only her limbs, and holding her 
body in the same position as on horseback, with 
the right side contracted, the right shoulder would 
in reality be depressed, and the tendency to de- 
viation would be to the left side. 

Thus, riding on horseback might also perhaps 
be employed as counteracting the far more ge- 
neral tendency to raise the right shoulder, which 
is produced by the more frequent and longer 
continued acts of writing, drawing, &c., and by 
the perpetual employment of the right hand in 
all the acts of common life, which compel the 
greater or less liberation of the shoulder from the 
corset or stays, its increased development, and 

* In Figure 1 the inclination is rather too much. In 
general, it is much less. 



36 



WRONG POSITIONS FROM DEBILITY. 



the almost universal tendency to right-sided de- 
viation and deformity. 

I feel, however, the greatest objection to riding 
on horseback as an exercise for ladies, on other 
accounts ; namely, the twist which it gives to the 
whole body ; the elevation which it produces of 
one of the shoulders ; the immense increase 
which it causes in the waist by incessantly em- 
ploying and developing the large muscles of the 
sides, in order to secure the rider's balance (and 
this too in a nation where slender-waistedness is 
beauty !) ; the enfeeblement and deformity which 
it causes in the thighs, legs, and feet;* the 
coarseness of voice, which is always caused by 
conversing in a loud tone with a riding com- 
panion; the increased exposure to weather, 
which is so unfavourable to the complexion; 
the early improper irritation and subsequent de- 
bility which it produces ;f the unnatural consoli- 
dation of the bones of the lower part of the body, 
ensuring a dangerous and frightful impediment to 
future functions which need not here be dwelt 
on ; — in short, its altogether masculine and un- 
womanly character. 

* See the regiments of Guards, in which I never could 
discover an old trooper who had two legs alike ! 

f The history of the Cossac women, who are much on 
horseback, illustrates this. 



37 



IN LYING IN BED. 

In sleeping on a feather-bed, with high pillows, 
the body is not only enervated, but, as we gene- 
rally lie on the right side, the right shoulder is 
again raised, and the tendency to deviation in 
that direction still further increased. 

The spine is also twisted, and the neck turned 
awry. — (See Plate VI.) 

When two children sleep in one bed, they 
seldom fail, unless they change sides, to contract 
a habit of lying always on the same side of the 
body; and when this is practised every night, 
during several years, it can scarcely fail to pro- 
duce deformity. 



Thus, as the most frequent curvature of the 
spine is lateral, its causes are also lateral; and 
those are egregiously mistaken who imagine that 
its cause is ever perpendicular, — they fail to ob- 
serve that, when lateral curvature arises, even from 
some fault in a foot, it is solely because its in- 
fluence is laterally applied, through the oblique 
neck of the thigh-bone, that it can have the 
slightest effect on the spinal column. — Considered 
both in its relation to surgery and to my present 
subject— exercise, this is a simple, clear and im- 

E 



38 DEFO R?vIITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 



portant principle, now I believe for the first time 
enunciated. 

Thus also the tendency of the greater number 
of the acts I have described, and especially of the 
frequent and long-continued act of writing, the 
similarly continued act of drawing, and the long 
enduring state of sleep, is added to that of all the 
acts of common life, in producing deviation and 
deformity, primarily and fundamentally, toward 
the right shoulder; and it is for these reasons that 
deviations to that side so greatly exceed those in 
the opposite direction. 



OF THE DEFORMITY IN WHICH WRONG 
POSITIONS TERMINATE. 

THE INJURY THUS DONE TO THE LOCOMOTIVE 
ORGANS AND FUNCTIONS, OR THOSE ON 
WHICH GENERAL MOTION DEPENDS. 

As this matter is well described by Dr. Duffin, 
I owe to him the immediately following observa- 
tions, on which I have made few and slight 
alterations. 

It has been already shown that the interver- 
tebral substance holds together the two vertebrae 
or bones of the spine between which it is inter- 
posed; and, though it firmly adheres to the op- 



INJURY TO THE LOCOMOTIVE ORGANS. 



39 



posed surfaces of both, and prevents their loose 
or free action, it yet permits a most extensive 
motion of the whole column of bones, taken con- 
jointly, in consequence of the great elastic power 
of which it is possessed. 

To whichever side the body inclines, the in- 
tervertebral substance readily yields ; and, when 
the weight of the body and the force of muscular 
contraction have ceased to bend the spine to any 
particular side, it returns in a moment to its 
proper position, by a powerful resilience of this 
substance, and the aid of antagonist muscles. 

Now, even in a healthy and vigorous indi- 
vidual, an unequal action of the originally 
symmetrical masses of muscle, which have already 
been described as situated laterally and poste- 
riorly to the spinal column, — if this action be 
frequent, excessive, or protracted, may evidently 
impart an unsymmetrical form to the bones 
which they powerfully and perpetually influence ; 
and if so, how much more easily would the same 
organs, acting unequally, induce deformity in 
the delicate female who is subject to perpetual 
constraint, who is consequently enfeebled, and 
to whom wrong position has become habitual ! 

In a healthy woman, a double curvature of 
the spine may be brought on by the habit of 



40 DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 



always nursing her child on her left arm. 
Clerks and other sedentary persons, frequently 
contract the lateral, or twisted curvature. 
Ploughmen have the right shoulder much higher 
than the left. Sailors have generally the spine 
bent forwards. 

"It is notorious that artisans, generally, 
contract some bend or twist in their backbone 
or limbs, so characteristic as to enable a prac- 
tised eye easily to judge of their respective pur- 
suits, without any other information than what 
is derived from their appearance. " 

In short, "any undue inclination to either, 
side during life, if frequent, constant, or pro- 
tracted, will cause a certain diminution in the 
thickness of this (the intervertebral) substance 
on the side to which the body inclines, accom- 
panied by a proportionate rising of the same on 
the opposite side; and will, in the course of 
time, produce permanent distortion of the whole 
column of bones — the result of the compression, 
and consequent absorption of the intervertebral 
substance. 

"This effect will be more easily produced 
during childhood, when the bones are in a state 
of growth, the ligaments more yielding, and the 
intervertebral substance peculiarly soft." 



INJURY TO THE LOCOMOTIVE ORGANS. 41 



If owing to constraint, want of exercise, &c. 
"a due supply of blood be not afforded to the 
bones of the spine, they will be so much nearer 
to the state of cartilage than they ought to be ; 
and will consequently yield more readily to the 
operation of any undue or partial pressure/' 

In young persons subject to the causes al- 
ready described, " the bones of the spine never 
become firm, yield easily to the superincumbent 
weight, aided perhaps by the force of the 
muscles; and thus, being disposed to grow 
unequally, impart to the spine a lateral inclina- 
tion of longer or shorter continuance. 

44 The spine thus deviates from its natural di- 
rection, slightly at first, but, finally, to such an 
extent as to make it betray its want of sym- 
metry, even to the most indifferent observer." 

This deformity "very rarely manifests itself 
before the child has attained the seventh or 
eighth year of age. From this period to the 
sixteenth or eighteenth year, the highest degree 
of excitability of the nervous system exists. 

6 4 There are few mothers who are not familiar with 
one of the first characteristics of this affection, 
—a projecting, high, and distorted shoulder. 

" On a more careful examination, it is found 
that the central groove of the back deviates from 

e 2 



42 DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 



a straight line; that there is a greater distance 
between a given point of the original perpen- 
dicular spinal line and the top of the elevated 
shoulder bone, than between the same point and 
the corresponding top of the opposite side. As 
the deformity advances, the gait of the young 
person becomes awkward and shuffling; her 
clothes cannot be made to fit well upon her; 
they appear to be drawn to one side, generally 
the right. The sash encircling her waist is ob- 
served to dip in the same direction, while the 
right breast presents a more than ordinary ful- 
ness, and the corresponding collar-bone displays 
a proportionate elevation. In short, the child 
is deformed. Her backbone is distorted. 

" In proportion as the inclination takes place 
in the upper part of the back, between the 
shoulders, nature, in order to counterbalance 
the evil, and preserve the equilibrium of the 
body, calls into action the muscles of the lower 
part of the spine on the opposite side; so that, in 
confirmed cases, a double curvature is produced. 

" As the infirmity advances, a similar coun- 
terpoising power is exerted by the muscles of 
the spine attached to the vertebrae of the neck, 
and a third or upper curve is then formed, so 
that the spine presents a serpentine appearance, 
inclining to each side alternately. 



INJURY TO LOCOMOTIVE ORGANS. 



43 



"The ribs, in consequence of the alteration in 
the course of the spine, aided by a continuance 
of the same debilitating causes, soon partake of 
the extending change that is going on, and, 
deviating from their true direction, contract and 
deform the chest. 

" Finally, the basin or pelvis, on which the 
spine rests, becoming involved, produces an 
inequality in the size of the hips, the contrary 
of that which obtains in the shoulder, and causes 
the body, when viewed from behind, to appear 
as if twisted on itself." — (See Plate VII., where 
this is contrasted with the natural and beautiful 
form.) 

"The longer the deformity exists, unless the 
causes whence it proceeds be discontinued, the 
more conspicuous it is sure to become. 

" Pinseus, who flourished towards the close of 
the sixteenth century, asserts (so common was 
it at that period) < that of fifty females of the 
higher or more civilized ranks of society, scarcely 
two could be found who had not the right 
shoulder higher, and more projecting, than the 
left/ — an assertion which, but slightly modified, 
may, with considerable truth, be applied to 
young women of a corresponding class in modern 
times.'' The Doctor might, I believe, with 
truth, have said that, in later times and in the 



44 DEFORMITY FROM WROXCx POSITIONS. 



great capitals, Pineeus' estimate would be under, 
rather than over the truth. 

"During childhood, backboards, steel stays, 
constrained positions of the body, concealed 
pressure, and similar expedients, are resorted to 
with a view to force in, or bind down, the high 
and projecting shoulder, erroneously supposed 
to be alone in fault. This treatment, it need 
hardly be observed, is almost invariably pro- 
ductive of an aggravation of the mischief it is 
designed to remedy, as well as injurious to the 
form of the chest. 

" If the shoulders be braced by means of 
straps to a plate of iron placed on the back, it 
is evident that the action of the muscles, with 
which nature has endowed the body for the 
express purpose of holding the shoulders in a 
graceful position, will be superseded, and will, 
from want of due use, become proportionately 
incapable of performing their wonted office when 
the strap is removed. 

"Artifices of dress being now substituted for 
mechanical contrivances, the manipulations of 
the waiting-maid supply the place of well- 
directed medical and surgical skill; or, in more 
pointed cases, the machinist is resorted to, who 
not unfrequently increases the deformity he 
undertakes to cure. 



INJURY TO THE LOCOMOTIVE ORGANS. 45 



" Machines, of every description, for the pre- 
vention of deformity, or for the cure of bad 
habits, should be avoided: they are at best very 
inefficient substitutes for the means provided by 
nature. In young persons, in whom we may 
wish to correct round shoulders, or a habit of 
stooping", we can obtain our object, and at the 
same time improve the general health and 
strength, more by the superintendence of their 
exercises and amusements, so as to make a 
moderate demand for muscular exertion on 
particular parts of the body, than by the use of 
back-boards, collars, or any kind of mechanical 
contrivance. " 

I have, on the subject of this section, quoted 

Dr. Duffin as the best medical describer of this 

particular but almost universal deformity, and 

I call him so from no personal intimacy or 

possibility of interest, for I have seen him but a 

few times, and that only on the subject of his 
work. 

On this point, I have only to add that Riolan, 
chief physician to Mary de Medicis, observed 
that most of the women of his time had the right 
shoulder larger than the left; and that Winslow 
first showed that, by the pressure of stays, the 
lower ribs also were depressed, and their cartila- 
ginous portions unnaturally bent. 



46 DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 



THE INJURY THUS DONE TO THE VITAL 
ORGANS AND FUNCTIONS, OR THOSE ON 
WHICH LIFE DEPENDS. 

It is well known that the constraints of dress 
impede the functions of the digestive organs, 
and lay the foundation of many diseases. 

It is equally known that such constraints 
produce the worst effects on the function of 
respiration, and consequently on that of circu- 
lation generally. 

It is not less known, that such constraints, 
acting on the cellular tissue around the bosom, 
are not only injurious to the beauty of its form, 
but expose it to future diseases of the most dan- 
gerous kind. 

In the same manner, want of exercise pre- 
vents all the organs from acquiring that firmness 
of structure which renders their movements more 
effective and useful. 

As, moreover, active exercise, which brings 
into action a number of muscles, does not con- 
fine its effects to the parts in motion, but in- 
fluences also the great vital organs contained in 
the trunk of the body ; so does repose of all the 
muscles influence, in an opposite manner, all 
the same organs of life. 



INJURY TO THE VITAL ORGANS. 47 



Want of exercise prevents the liquids from 
experiencing that transpression which perfects 
them, by passing frequently through various 
vessels and niters. Stagnating from want of 
action on the part of the solids, they spontane- 
ously alter; their composition is deranged; the 
elements which form them either separate or 
produce new combinations. 

It would indeed appear, that from want of 
exercise, every vital function decreases in energy, 
except, in some persons, the oily secretion. 

"It is," says Cabanis, a high authority, here 
quoted for those less able to observe and reason, 
" it is for the most part only the want of bodily 
movement and respiration in the open air, and 
some other errors in regimen, food, clothing, 
&c, which render young women so often ailing, 
which retard, or derange, or prevent some of 
their essential functions, and which make of 
them deplorable victims at the age of nubility 
and of happiness." 

While I am writing this, Sir Anthony Carlisle, 
who is one of the last, if I mistake not, of the fa- 
vorite disciples of John Hunter, that remains to us, 
and who, like that illustrious man, has ever sought 
to ennoble his profession, by founding all its prac- 
tice on the great truths of physical science,— 



48 DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS. 

states to me an important fact, which may with 
far more propriety be stated by one so pro- 
foundly experienced and so justly distinguished, 
than it can be by me: — namely, that the causes 
which I have here described " lead especially to 
an excess of all those bodily infirmities and 
deformities which, in young women of rank and 
affluence, destroy their ability to extend their 
families, and cause the heirship to titles and 
fortunes to be in general so soon extinguished/' 
Those with whom neither reasoning nor these 
supreme authorities prevail, are reckless of all 
consequences to the welfare and happiness of 
their children. 

THE INJURY THUS DONE TO THE MENTAL 
ORGANS AND FUNCTIONS, OR THOSE ON 
WHICH THOUGHT DEPENDS. 

The physical constraint to which young women 
are subjected, is necessarily attended by a mental 
constraint, which is absurdly mistaken for the 
means of education. It is indeed for the sake 
of this education, wretched as it is! that much 
of this constraint is endured. 

By the word education is meant, not the 
attention bestowed upon developing the phv- 



INJURY TO THE MENTAL ORGANS. 49 



sical and moral faculties, but simply the pre- 
cocious acquirement of a little fancy needle- 
work, a little French, a little Italian, a little 
singing, a little dancing, &c. ; and this being 
acquired, the happy parents regard their daugh- 
ter not as a puppet, mentally as well as bodily 
enfeebled, but as a model of perfection. 

If during the ill-timed struggle to attain this, 
the young lady's physical constitution has been 
unable to unfold itself, and she remains weak, 
pale and nervous, this is imputed to original 
constitution ; and the ruin of strength and 
health, is thus compensated for by the most 
slight and superficial acquirements. 

They forget that, as observed by Dr. Duffin, 
" in the philosophy of education, doubling the 
power does not always double the effect. The 
second hour of study is seldom half so good 
as the first ; the third is much worse than 
the second . . . Experience teaches us, besides, 
that nothing would be lost by the interven- 
tion of amusement, but that an actual acces- 
sion would be made to the acuteness of the 
individual. M 

They forget that those to whom the education 
of woman is intrusted ought to know something 

F 



50 DEFORMITY FROM WRONG POSITIONS, 



of her temperament in general, and of her mind 
in particular. 

Anthropologists have observed that the tem- 
perament of woman is that of infancy, and that 
it is marked by weakness and sensibility. 

The weakness of woman arises from the ex- 
treme tenderness of the fibres of which the mus- 
cles are composed, the greater quantity of the 
cellular tissue which unites them, and the abun- 
dance of the juices which moisten them. 

This delicacy seems to be naturally accom- 
panied by an openness to impressions, and a 
sensibility which is lively and easily excited; for 
when the weakness of woman is increased by 
any circumstance, the delicacy and susceptibility 
of the organs become greater, and the sensibility 
increases to a malady. 

Thus is woman far more sensible than man. 
As, moreover, all the parts and tissues of which 
woman is formed are finer, more delicate, and 
more supple, this smallness induces agility ; 
for it is a rule almost without exception, that 
the smaller animals are, of their particular kind, 
the more rapid and multiplied are their move- 
ments. 

Thus is woman, by nature, far more inclined 



INJURY TO THE MENTAL ORGANS. 



51 



than man to movement, however slight its de- 
scription. 

Indeed, muscular movement and the develop- 
ment of sensibility arise from a common prin- 
ciple, nervous action, which must be equally 
employed in both these phenomena. 

Now, as exercise strengthens the body, it is 
easy to conceive that repose must accumulate 
sensibility ; and that unless they alternate with 
each other, either the one or the other is gene- 
rated in excess. 

Accordingly, in leaving unemployed a con- 
siderable part of the muscular fibres, repose en- 
feebles them directly, and it permits the forces 
which should actuate them in muscular motion, 
to follow the central tendency which carries them 
towards the nervous system. 

By this means, all the functions more directly 
dependent on sensibility acquire great predo- 
minence over those which are, properly speaking, 
only series of physical movements. 

Hence, nothing so much foments the passions 
as solitude and inaction. Hence, the greater 
number of the affections of girls arise, as Sevigne 
says, " d'avoir toujours le cul sur selle. ,, 

All the ills, indeed, which afflict the luxurious 
women of our great cities are a consequence of 



52 DEFORMITY FROM WRONG TOSITIONS. 



this error. Lounging on soft couches, protected 
from cold, heat, atmosphere and light, they are 
afraid of every thing, shun every thing, and suffer 
as much as the unsheltered wretch. 

We every day see that if sensibility acquire 
that influence, which in females of a certain class, 
the inaction of the muscles and the development 
of the passions cause it to usurp, the vital powers 
soon fail in the regularity of their action, and the 
mental powers become perverted, and in their 
aberrations, produce nervous diseases. 

Hence, then, spring all those convulsive mala- 
dies which are much more frequent in feeble and 
delicate women than in others. They are, indeed, 
the natural punishment of a life passed in luxury 
and indolence. 

In woman, there is nothing, not even aberra- 
tion of intellect, erotic and religious insanity, 
which is not ascribable to the cause now des- 
cribed. — All her good and all her bad qualities 
are the consequences of her weakness and sensi- 
bility. 



53 



OF THE PARTICULAR AND SPECIAL 
UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 

I have stated that the effect of exercise is, by 
frequent contraction of the fibres, to brace the 
muscles and render them stronger, and generally 
to give more strength to the organs. 

Nothing evidently can be more suitable to the 
organization of woman. Her tissues are soft and 
flexible; exercise renders them more firm and 
resisting: her fibres are thin and weak; exercise 
increases their size and strength: they are moist- 
ened with oils and juices; exercise diminishes the 
superabundant humidity. 

In regard to strength in general, it may be 
observed that, in the present state of society, we 
have less need of it than the people of ancient 
times. Muscular strength is a kind of superiority 
no longer in such favour, and the aim of gymnastics 
is consequently nothing more than to endow the 
body with all the strength, vigor and activity, 
compatible with health, without injury to the de- 
velopment of the intellectual faculties. 

Moreover, the education which is suited to the 
male, is not calculated to render the female 
amiable and useful in society, 

e 2 



54 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



This is an observation of all times. The an- 
cients were too good observers not to know that 
woman, by her less stature, her weaker organi- 
zation, her predominant sensibility, and her 
peculiar function of multiplying the species, was 
not destined by nature to such toilsome labours 
as men. 

We seek, accordingly, to develop in woman that 
modesty and gentleness which are proper to her, 
that soft and attractive air which characterizes her, 
and those seductive graces which distinguish her. 

The constitution of women, indeed, bears only 
moderate exercise. Their feeble arms cannot 
support severe and long-continued labour. It 
renders them meagre, and deforms the organs, by 
compressing and destroying that cellular sub- 
stance which contributes to the beauty of their 
outlines and of their complexion. The graces 
accommodate themselves little to labour, per- 
spiration and sun-burning. 

We must not, however, conclude from this, 
that females should be kept in a state of continual 
repose, or that the delicacy of their organization 
prevents their taking exercise. 

It is a fact that labour, even the most excessive, 
is not so much to be feared as absolute idleness. 
The state of want which forces some women of 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



55 



the lowest class to perform labours that seem 
reserved for men, deprives them only of some 
attractions. Excessive indolence, on the contrary, 
destroys at once health, and that which women 
value more than health, though it never can sub- 
sist without it, namely beauty. 

The more robust state of health in females 
brought up in the country, is attributable to the 
exercise they enjoy. Their movements are active 
and firm ; their appetite is good, and their com- 
plexion florid; they are alert and gay; they know 
neither pain nor lassitude, although they are in 
action without cessation under all kinds of wea- 
ther. It is exercise which gives them vigor, health 
and happiness — exercise to which they are so 
frequently subjected, even in infancy and youth. 

We observe, also, that in a family where there 
are several sisters of similar constitution, the one 
who from circumstances has been accustomed to 
regular and daily exercise, almost always pos- 
sesses most strength and vigour. 

Mothers and teachers, therefore, instead of 
fearing that their children should fatigue them- 
selves by exertion in active sports, should subject 
them early to it. They will thus give them more 
than merely life and instruction ; they will confer 
on them health and strength. 



56 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



But some mothers are afraid to see their 
daughters entering with spirit into exercises, and 
are of opinion that health cannot be obtained 
without sacrificing the graces which a female who 
is intended for society should possess. 

They may rest assured that no recom mender 
of exercise would endeavour to make a stout 
robust woman of a little, delicate and nervous 
girl, or would prescribe for her the female gym- 
nastics of the half-naked women of Lacedemon, 
as instituted by Lycurgus. 

What we can, and what we should endeavour 
to do, is to obtain a good constitution, absence 
from all deformity, and sufficient strength to 
prevent the display of vicious sensibility, but not 
to destroy that delicacy and those attractions 
which constitute beauty and grace. 

But it may be feared that the peculiar structure 
and the natural weakness of woman, may render 
dangerous the exercises intended to combat it. 

Those who make such objections should recol- 
lect that the circumstances which distinguish the 
sexes, and which modify them, remain imperfect 
and without action, until the age of puberty, and 
that children of both sexes have nearly the same 
appetites, the same wants, and the same inclina- 
tions. It is hence we recognise in them nearly 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



57 



the same physiognomy, a similar tone of voice, 
and similar manners. 

This will be the less surprising when it is known 
that the internal organization, even the structure 
of the bones, has a greater resemblance in early 
life than at a subsequent period. Thus until 
they arrive at maturity, the pelvis or basin, is 
rarely larger than in youths. Hence all the ex- 
ercises which depend upon position and walking, 
will not be more difficult for them than for boys; 
while, for full-grown women, these exercises are 
more difficult and embarrassing. 

This community of structure, as well as the fact 
that, at this early age, activity, restlessness and 
the desire of motion are remarkable in girls, all 
point out the danger of repose. 

Instead, therefore, of being afraid of exercise 
for young girls, they should be subjected to it 
as soon as possible; and, when this is the case, 
they uniformly prove the truth of the observation, 
made by teachers of exercises, that females, in 
agility, precision and address, surpass boys of the 
same age. 

So much for the effects of exercise upon the 
locomotive system. 

With regard to the vital or nutritive system, 
it is not less certain that exercise augments the 



58 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



circulation and respiration, and perfects the 
formation of the blood and the nourishment of 
the body, in the same proportion in which the 
power of the lungs is developed. 

By carrying toward the exterior the forces 
which, during a state of repose, tend almost al- 
ways to concentrate themselves either in the brain 
or in the abdominal organs, exercise makes of 
these forces a more exact distribution, reesta- 
blishes or maintains their equilibrium, and, by 
exciting the circulation, provokes the insensible 
perspiration, without which health and beauty are 
impossible. 

In relation to the diseases of this system, it is 
evident that, when the circulation is reanimated 
and accelerated, fewer engorgements of blood 
take place in the abdominal and inferior regions, 
and the inertia of chlorosis is dissipated. 

In regard to the mental system, exercise, 
while it increases the activity of the muscles, pre- 
vents, as we have seen, the vicious predominance 
of the sensitive system. Diseased sensibility can 
never exist where the constitution has not been 
suffered to become enervated by indolence, 
When external agitation employs our faculties, 
the interior reposes. 

If already the defective power of the mental 



UTILITY OF EXERCISES. 



59 



functions tends i to too vivid mobility, exercise 
gives them more of the stability of energy, The 
nervous susceptibility, which is increased • by 
weakness, is reduced to its proper degree, as soon 
as exercise has strengthened the organs. By this 
useful diversion, the affections of the heart are 
calmed. " Otia si tollas, periere Cupidinis arcus." 

But this is not all : by diminishing the causes 
of exaggeration in the affections and passions, 
mildness and goodness, the most certain sources 
of happiness, remain in conjunction with health. 

There can, therefore, be no doubt of the utility 
of exercise in remedying whatever may be defec- 
tive in the female organization, and laying the 
foundation of a constitution exempt from infir- 
mities and disease. 



PART II. 



PARTICULAR EXERCISES, 



OF THE KINDS OF EXERCISE. 

The exercises called active, are those in which 
the body is moved and agitated by its own force, 
with or without the particular influence and 
direction of the organs of sense. 

These voluntary exercises always produce a 
general excitement more or less powerful. 

The class called passive, or communicated 
exercises, are those in which the body is acted 
upon and moved by a cause distinct from mus- 
cular action, or without the muscles assisting in 
any other way than by a contraction merely 
sufficient to preserve a fixed position. 

These exercises merely produce a succession 
of impulses in the living parts, calculated to brace 
and strengthen them without exciting. 

Mixed exercises, such as riding on horseback, 
produce each of these results. 



61 



PASSIVE EXERCISES. 

These, indeed, are not properly exercises, be- 
cause the body is moved in them without effort ; 
but as they are often employed as an introduc- 
tion to active exercises, it would have been 
improper to omit a sort of preliminary notice of 
them. 

Passive exercises have a remarkable effect upon 
nutrition : they increase the strength and vigour, 
without much excitement of the organs, raising 
no beatings of the heart, nor overheating, nor, 
generally speaking, producing perspiration. 

Without enquiring by what means nutrition 
is, under their influence, performed with greater 
energy, and rendered more general, it may be 
observed that, thereby, the organs of which the 
body is composed, appear to experience, through- 
out their substance, a number of vibrations 
which may exercise the fibres, augment their 
density, and render them stronger. 

While, in active exercises, nutrition is distri- 
buted so that the more certain parts are exer- 
cised, the more preponderance they acquire, in 
relation to others which lose power in the same 
proportion; in passive exercises, on the contrary, 

G 



62 



PASSIVE EXERCISES. 



distribution and nutrition exist in the most per- 
fect equality. 

Friction with the hand and with the flesh- 
brush, shampooing, &c. may be ranked with 
passive exercises. 

In the swing, if a second person gives the 
impulse, the exercise is purely passive; but if 
the person swinging assist in the action, or per- 
form it alone, it has, in the same proportion, the 
effects of active exercise. This exercise, how- 
ever, is dangerous, unless used with discretion : 
great care should be taken that the ropes are 
strong and well secured, and the seat fastened 
firmly. 

Suspended couches form an exercise similar 
to swinging; the only difference being that the 
person exercised reclines, instead of sitting up- 
right, and that the curve described in the motion is 
considerably less. This exercise is more especially 
useful in alleviating pain and in producing sleep. 

See-saw furnishes a succession of movements 
which are more powerful than the preceding. 
As it consists in balancing a plank, the centre of 
which rests upon a solid axis, one person being 
seated at each end, and one rising as the other 
descends, this exercise is not exactly passive ; 
each party takes an active part, either to keep 

r 



PASSIVE EXERCISES. 



63 



herself on, or to rise, by impelling the extremity 
of the lever when it strikes the ground. 

Sailing, considered only as a movement 
communicated, has not so great an effect upon 
the functions as carriage exercise. The sailor 
experiences a succession of balancings, rather 
than shocks. 

It nevertheless presents physical agents which 
produce a remarkable change in the constitution 
of sailors. These appear to be: — 

First. The sea-breeze, which, in the same 
degree of latitude, is much cooler than that of 
the land. 

Secondly. The greater purity of the air at sea 
than on land. Although the ocean is inhabited 
by an immense number of living beings, the 
decomposition of their bodies does not appear to 
produce any putridity in the water, and they 
consequently produce none in the atmosphere 
which rests on its surface. 

Thirdly. The temperature of the surface of the 
sea, which is more uniform and less changeable 
than that on shore. The land, in some places, 
by means of its mountains and vallies, seems to 
concentrate and preserve immense quantities of 
solar heat, to which other places are by their 
position inaccessible, This cannot be the case 



64 



PASSIVE EXERCISES. 



at sea, where nothing interferes with the free 
course of caloric. 

Carriage exercise produces greater mo- 
tions, because the flooring upon which the feet rest 
necessarily receives the jolts and shocks which 
the wheels cause, owing to the roughness of the 
ground, and transmits them to the person within. 

If the ground be very uneven, and the speed 
very great, the shocks may be so continual and 
violent, as to render this exercise insupportable 
and injurious to very weak constitutions. If the 
rate be slower and easily endured, it is evident 
that it may, in some cases, have beneficial effects 
upon the organs. 

The refinement in building carriages, however, 
is carried so far that not only do the shocks 
received by the wheels no longer transmit any 
percussive motion to our organs, but even the 
most easy balancings scarcely reach us. 

This mode of exercise in a carriage cannot 
consequently be of great utility in re-establishing 
a constitution enervated by luxury or study. It 
is calculated only to increase what is termed 
nervous susceptibility, to put us out of a condi- 
tion to resist the most trifling collision, and to 
render us still more attentive to all the slight 
shades of disagreeable sensation. 



MIXED EXERCISES. 



65 



The transmission of shocks being in indirect 
ratio to the elasticity of the springs, and direct 
to the tension of the braces, carriages of this 
kind, in which the springs are the least elastic, 
and the braces as tight as possible, appear to be 
the most suitable; for if, on one side, the line of 
motion should be sufficiently broken to avoid 
the rough shocks that a cart produces, on the 
other, it should not be sufficiently broken to 
annul the shocks which constitute precisely the 
advantage of this kind of exercise. 

As carriage exercise gives more vigour to the 
organs, without adding to the activity of their 
functions, — facilitates assimilation, without occa- 
sioning loss, — and enjoys, in a very high degree, 
the advantages peculiar to passive exercises ; it is, 
when necessary, suited to all ages, particularly 
to the two extremes of life, and is very favourable 
to the re-establishment of convalescents who 
cannot yet take any active exercise. 



MIXED EXERCISES. 

Mixed exercises are composed of two orders 
of movement: the first is communicated to the 
individual by a foreign power; the second has 

g 2 



66 



MIXED EXERCISES. 



its principle in the individual himself, and is 
not generally executed except to regulate the 
first. 

The effects of these exercises are of course the 
same as the effects of passive exercises joined to 
active ones. 

Riding furnishes an example of what has just 
been stated. 

In riding, the shock of the horse's feet upon 
the ground produces in the animal's body a 
percussive action, which shakes the rider. He 
undergoes a succession of lively shocks, of which 
the action is very extensive, if the horse be 
trotting, cantering, or galloping. If, on the 
contrary, the horse is walking slowly, the effects 
are very trifling. 

Equitation is recommended to ladies in too 
general a manner, and is proper for them only 
under particular circumstances. When the 
health is not impaired, this exercise has many 
disadvantages, in the twist it gives the body, — 
the raising of the shoulder, — the enlargement of 
the size of the waist, by the exercise of its muscles 
in maintaining the balance, — the deforming of 
the limbs, — the rendering the voice coarse, — the 
injury of the complexion, — the unnatural con- 
solidation of the bones of the lower part of the 
6 



ACTIVE EXERCISES — OF POSITION. 67 



body, — the improper irritation and subsequent 
debility it produces, — the masculine air it be- 
stows, &c. &c. 

Roussel justly remarks, that ladies never de- 
rive, from riding, the same advantage as men; 
for, being compelled to indulge in it with pre- 
caution, they seem, in mounting on horseback, 
to lose those graces which are natural to them, 
without gaining those of the sex which they en- 
deavour to imitate. 



ACTIVE EXERCISES— OF POSITION. 

OF STANDING GENERALLY. 

Before entering into a detail of exercises, it is 
necessary to attend to position. 

A standing position is the action by which we 
keep ourselves up. 

Indeed this state, in which the body appears 
to be in repose, is itself a sort of exercise ; for it 
consists in a continued effort of many muscles. 
The explanation which we must give of it will 
somewhat facilitate that of walking. 

Every one has observed that during sleep, or 
in a fainting fit, the head inclines forward and 



68 



OF POSITION. 



falls upon the breast. This is in accordance 
with the laws of gravity ; for the head, resting 
upon the first vertebra at a point of its base 
which is nearer its posterior than anterior part, 
cannot remain in an upright position, except by 
an effort of the muscles of the back of the neck : 
it is the cessation of this effort that causes it to 
fall forward. 

The body also is unable to remain straight, 
without fatigue. The vertebral column being 
placed behind, all the organs contained by the 
chest and abdomen are suspended in front of it, 
and would force it to bend forward unless the 
strong muscles of the back held it back. A 
proof of this may be seen in pregnant women, 
who are compelled, in consequence of the ante- 
rior part of the body being heavier than usual, 
to keep the vertebral column more fixed, and 
even thrown backward. 

The same observation may be made with re- 
gard to the pelvis, basin, or lowest part of the 
trunk, which, by its conformation, would bend 
forward upon the thighs, if not kept back by the 
great muscles that form the hips. 

In front of the thighs again are the muscles 
which, by keeping the kneepan in position, are 
the means of preventing the knee from bending. 



STANDING GENERALLY. 



69 



Lastly, the muscles forming the calves of the 
legs, by contracting, are the means of preventing 
the ankles from bending. 

Such is the general mechanism of the standing 
position. It is, therefore, as observed, a con- 
currence of efforts : almost all the extending 
muscles are in a state of contraction all the time 
that this position is maintained. 

The consequence is a fatigue which cannot 
be endured for any great length of time. Hence, 
we see persons in a standing position rest the 
weight of their body, first on one foot, then on 
another, for the purpose of procuring momentary 
ease to certain muscles. 

For this reason also, standing still is more 
fatiguing than walking, in which the muscles are 
alternately contracted, and extended. 

A question of importance on this subject, is 
what position of the feet affords the greatest soli- 
dity in standing. Here it is sufficient to state 
the fact, that the larger the base of support, the 
firmer and more solid will the position be. 

We now adopt, as a fundamental one, the 
military position, which has been found practi- 
cally the best, by those who have nothing else 
to do but to walk. 



70 



OF POSITION . 



FUNDAMENTAL POSITION. 

The equal squareness of the shoulders and 
body to the front is the first and great principle 
of position. The heels must be in a line, and 
closed ; — the knees straight ; — the toes turned 
out, with the feet forming an angle of sixty de- 
grees ; — the arms hanging close to the body ; — 
the elbows turned in and close to the sides; — 
the hands open to the front, with the view of 
preserving the elbow in the position above de- 
scribed ; — the little fingers lightly touching the 
clothing of the limbs, with the thumb close to 
the forefingers; — the belly rather drawn in, and 
the breast advanced, but without constraint; — 
the body upright, but inclining forward, so that 
the weight of it may principally bear on the fore 
part of the feet ; — the head erect, and the eyes 
straight to the front. 

To these brief directions, I must add that, in 
standing, the whole figure must be in such a 
position, that the ear, shoulder, hanch, knee 
and ankle are all in a line; — that it must be 
stretched as much as possible, by raising the 
back of the head, drawing in the chin, straight- 
ening the spine, rising on the hips, and extend- 
ing the legs; — that the object of keeping the 



FUNDAMENTAL POSITION. 



71 



back thus straight is to allow of standing longer 
without fatigue ; — that it is important to expand 
the chest and to throw the shoulders back, with 
the shoulderblades or scapulse quite flat be- 
hind ; — and that though by men, in military 
instructions, the body is thus inclined forward 
in standing without arms, yet when these are 
assumed, the body is immediately thrown about 
two inches backward, into a nearly perpendicular 
position. — (See Plate Vlll.,jftg. 1.) 

This position, therefore, will be modified in 
standing at ease, in walking, and especially in 
ordinary walking ; but it is an excellent funda- 
mental position, and it cannot be too accurately 
acquired. 

This is the amount of the drill-sergeant's in- 
structions as to position, though this last part is 
omitted in the Manual describing the field exer- 
cise and evolutions of the army. 

Females find the standing position very 
fatiguing, however it may be modified. 

In consequence of the pelvis, basin, or lowest 
part of the body being larger in them than in 
man, the bones of the thighs are more separated 
above, and as they necessarily approach more 
closely below, this produces an inclination to 
be in-kneed. It is true the feet are not so close 
together as in men ; but as they are smaller and 



72 



OF POSITION. 



do not so well support a standing position in 
front, where there is most need of support, it is, 
in fact, more difficult for women. 

We may remark, however, that the pelvis not 
being developed before the age of puberty, the 
standing position of young girls is the same as in 
youths. 

What has now been said regards the general 
position of the whole figure ; and to this the 
more particular positions of the feet which are 
the elements of dancing, are properly a sequel. 
Both, therefore, on their own account and for 
the sake of what follows, they must be next de- 
scribed. It is of great importance that they be 
thoroughly understood and accurately and easily 
performed. 

POSITIONS IN DANCING. 

In all these positions, the body should be kept 
perfectly erect; the shoulders thrown back, and 
the bust advanced ; the arms rounded ; the fore- 
finger and thumb occupied in holding out the 
dress; the other fingers neatly grouped. 

The first position is formed by placing the 
heels together and throwing the toes back, so 
that the feet form a straight line. 



POSITIONS IN DANCING. 



73 



In the first attempts at this position, the toes 
should not be more turned out than will admit 
of the body maintaining its proper balance : they 
must be brought to the correct position only by 
degrees, until the pupil can place the feet, heel to 
heel, in a straight line, without affecting the 
steadiness of the body or arms. — (See Plate VIII, 

fig- 2-) 

The second position is formed by moving the 
right foot sideways, from the first position to 
about the distance of its own length from the 
heel of the left. 

Of the foot thus placed, the heel must be 
raised, so that the toes alone rest on the ground; 
the instep being bent as much as possible, and 
the foot retaining its primitive direction out- 
ward. 

In this case, as in the first, the foot should be 
brought by degrees correctly to perform this 
action ; and the toes should be gradually thrown 
back as far as the pupil's power to preserve her 
balance will permit. — (See Plate VIII, Jig. 3.) 

The third position is formed by drawing the 
right foot from the second position, to about the 
middle of the front of the left ; the feet being 
kept close to each other, so that the heel of one 
foot is brought to the ankle of the other, and 



74 



POSITIONS IN DANCING. 



seems to lock in with it : thus the feet are nearly 
half crossed. 

In drawing the right foot into this position, 
its heel must be brought to the ground as it 
approaches the left, and kept forward during 
its progress, so that the toe may retain its proper 
direction outward. — (See Plate IX, Jig. 1.) 

The fourth position is formed by moving the 
foot about its own length forward from the third 
position, keeping the heel forward, and the toe 
backward, during the progress of the foot ; and 
it must be so placed as to be exactly opposite to 
the other heel, or rather to the centre of the left 
foot, so that the feet half cross without touching. 

In moving the right foot forward, the toe may 
be slightly raised. — (See Plate IX, Jig. 2.) 

The fifth position is formed by drawing the 
right foot back from the fourth position, so that 
its heel is brought close to the toes of the left 
foot, the feet being completely crossed. 

The right heel, in this position, is gradually 
brought to the ground as it approaches the left 
foot, precisely as in formerly drawing the left 
foot from the second to the third. — (See Plate 
IX, fg. 3.) 

In all these positions, the left foot is to retain 
its primitive situation. 



EXTENSION MOTIONS. 



75 



In all these positions, also, the knees may be 
bent without raising the heels in the least from the 
ground ; and to give flexibility and strength to the 
instep, they should be often practised on the toes. 



THE EXTENSION MOTIONS. 

In order to supple the figure, open the chest, 
and give freedom to the muscles of soldiers, the 
first three movements of the extension motions, 
as laid down for the sword exercise, are ordered 
to be practised. 

It is, indeed, truly observed that too many 
methods cannot be used to improve the carriage, 
and banish a rustic air; but the greatest care 
must be taken not to throw the body backward 
instead of forward, as being contrary to every 
true principle of movement, 

I accordingly here introduce these extension 
motions, as not less valuable to ladies than 
to men, adding the fourth and fifth, and pre- 
fixing to each the respective word of command, 
in order that they may be the more distinctly 
and accurately executed. 

Attention. — The body is to be erect, the heels 
close together, and the hands hanging down on 
each side. 



76 



EXTENSION MOTIONS. 



First Extension Motion.— This serves as a 
caution, and the motion tends to expand the 
chest, raise the head, throw back the shoulders, 
and strengthen the muscles of the back. 

One. — Bring the hands and arms to the front, 
the fingers lightly touching at the points, and 
the nails downwards; then raise them in a cir- 
cular direction well above the head, the ends of 
the ringers still touching, the thumbs pointing 
to the rear, the elbows pressed back, and the 
shoulders kept down. — (See Peate X, fig. 1.) 

Two. — Separate and extend the arms and 
fingers, forcing them obliquely back, till they 
come extended on a line with the shoulders ; and, 
as they fall gradually thence to the original 
position of Attention, endeavour, as much as 
possible, to elevate the neck and chest. 

These two motions should be frequently prac- 
tised, with the head turned as much as possible 
to the right or left, and the body kept square to 
the front: this tends very materially to supple 
the neck, &c. 

Three. — Turn the palms of the hands to the 
front, pressing back the thumbs with the arms 
extended, and raise them to the rear, till they 
meet above the head; the fingers pointing up- 
wards, with the ends of the thumbs touching. — 
(See Plate X, fig. 2.) 



EXTENSION MOTIONS. 



77 



Four. — Keep the arms and knees straight, 
and bend over from the hips till the hands touch 
the feet, the head being brought down in the 
same direction. — (See Plate X, Jig. 3.) 

Five. — With the arms flexible and easy from 
the shoulders, raise the body gradually, so as to 
resume the position of Attention. 

The whole of these motions should be done 
very gradually, so as to feel the exertion of the 
muscles throughout. 

To these extension motions, drill Serjeants, in 
their instructions, add the following, as simi- 
larly useful. 

One. — The forearms are bent upon the arms 
upward and toward the body, having the elbows 
depressed, the shut hands touching on the little 
finger sides, and the knuckles upward, the latter 
being raised as high as the chin, and at the dis- 
tance of about a foot before it. — (See Plate XI, 

fig- 10 

Two. — While the arms are thrown forcibly 
backward, the forearms are as much as possible 
bent upon the arms, and the palmar sides of the 
wrists are turned forward and outward. — (See 
Plate XI, Jig. 2.) 

These two motions are to be repeatedly and 
rather quickly performed. 

h 2 



78 



EXTENSION MOTIONS. 



A modification of the same movements is per- 
formed as a separate extension motion, but may 
be given in continuation, with the numbers 
following these as words of command. 

Three.— The arms are extended at full length 
in front, on a level with the shoulders, the palms of 
the hands in contact. 

Four. — Thus extended, and the palms retaining 
their vertical position, the arms are thrown 
forcibly backward, so that the backs of the hands 
may approach each other as nearly as possible. — 
See Plate XI, fig. 3.) 

These motions also are to be repeatedly and 
rather quickly performed. 

Another extension motion, similarly added, 
consists in swinging the right arm in a circle, in 
which, beginning from the pendant position, the 
arm is carried upward in front, by the side of 
the head, and downward behind, the object 
being, in the latter part of this course, to throw 
it as directly backward as possible. — The same 
is then done with the left arm.— Lastly, both 
arms are thus exercised together. 

These motions are performed quickly. 



79 



THE EXERCISE WITH THE ROD. 

The rod for this purpose should be light, 
smooth, inflexible, and need not be more than 
three or four feet in length. 

FIRST EXERCISE. 

The rod is first grasped near the extremities 
by the two hands, the thumbs being inward.— 
(See Plate XII, fig. 1.) 

Without changing the position of the hands 
on the rod, it is then brought to a vertical posi- 
tion: the right hand being uppermost holds it 
above the head, the left is against the lower part 
of the body. 

By an opposite movement, the right is lowered 
and the left raised. 

This change is executed repeatedly and quickly. 

SECOND EXERCISE. 

From the first position of the rod, it is raised 
over the head ; and, in doing so, the closer the 
hands are, the better will be the effect upon the 
shoulder.— (Sec Plate XII, fig. 2.) 



80 EXERCISE WITH THE ROD. 

It is afterwards carried behind the back, hold- 
ing so firmly that no change takes place in the 
position of the hands. — (See Plate XII, fig. 3.) 

This movement is then reversed, to bring it 
back over the head to the first position. 

third exercise. 

The same exercises are performed by grasping 
the stick with the hands in an opposite position ; 
that is to say, with the thumbs in front or the 
palms of the hands forwards. — (See Plate XIII, 

It is raised parallel with the shoulders, ex- 
tending it first on the left and then on the right 
arm. 

FOURTH EXERCISE. 

It is next raised above the head, the hands 
being still in their new position. — (See Plate XIII, 

fig. 2-) 

It is afterwards lowered behind the back. — 
(See Plate XIII, fig. 3.) 

The exercise is concluded by bringing it to its 
original position in front. 



These exercises cannot be performed in all their 
different movements with promptitude and regu- 



I 



t 



DUMB-BELLS. 81 

larity without many trials and repetitions. Their 
tendency is to confirm the good position and the 
flexibility of the shoulders, produced by the 
extension motions. 



THE DUMB-BELLS. 

This instrument is one of the oldest used in 
gymnastics. It may be seen in the Latin work 
of Mercurialis de Arte Gymnastica; and though 
its form was not precisely the same as at present, 
the result produced was similar. It has been 
long in use in England, where it enters into the 
school exercise of most seminaries for the instruc- 
tion of ladies. 

For children from six to ten years of age, dumb- 
bells should not weigh more than from three to 
four pounds each; and for children from ten to 
fifteen years of age. they may weigh from four 
to six pounds each. 

To use dumb-bells with all the advantage they 
admit of, the young person should stand in the 
fundamental position already described. 

To obtain the first position, the hands and the 



82 



DUMB-BELLS. 



dumb-bells are, by a slight rotatory movement 
of the arm outward and backward, brought 
behind the lower part of the body, so as to make 
the two extremities of the dumb-bells next to the 
little fingers touch each other. 

The fingers in this case touch the muscles of 
the hips, and the back of the hand is outward. 
—(See Plate XIV, fig. 1.) 

FIRST EXERCISE. 

In the first exercise from this position, a re- 
gular motion is commenced, which consists in 
giving to the depending and extended arms, at 
the same time, a circular and rotatory move- 
ment, forwards and inwards, to the front of the 
body, so that the dumb-bells perform each a 
semicircle, (See Plate XIV, Jig. 2,) making a 
complete circle between them, but with this 
difference in position, that when they are behind, 
they touch at the exterior extremities, or those 
on the side of the little finger, and when they 
are in front of the thighs, they touch at the 
other extremities. 



DUMB-BELLS 



83 



SECOND EXERCISE, 

In the second exercise, — from the same po- 
sition, the hands are raised together towards the 
front and middle of the chest, and approximated, 
so that the ball on the thumb-side of one 
dumb-bell may touch that of the other. — 
(See Plate XIV, fig. 3.) With the arms ex- 
tended, they are then allowed to drop with 
sufficient force to swing them round the body to 
the first position. This is repeated several times. 

THIRD EXERCISE. 

In the third exercise, — from the same position 
the arms are raised above the head, and the 
dumb-bells are made to touch at their ex- 
tremities, being kept in a horizontal position. 
— (See Plate XV, fig. 1.) The hands are 
then allowed to fall gently into the first po- 
sition. 

FOURTH EXERCISE. 

In the fourth exercise, the arms are stretched 
out straight from the shoulders. — (See Plate 
XV, fig. 2 ;) and the hands are moved hori- 



84 



INDIAN SCEPTRE EXERCISE. 



zontally backwards (See Plate XV, fig. 3,) 
and forwards, the dumb-bells being in a vertical 
position. 



This employment of the dumb-bells should not 
at first be persisted in longer than a minute or 
two at a time, but the duration of each suc- 
ceeding exercise may be gradually increased. 

n.b. Until the introduction of the Indian 
sceptres, or Indian clubs, this exercise was 
valuable, notwithstanding the inconvenient jerks 
which it communicates to the shoulders. It 
should now be superseded by that exercise, 
which is incomparably more varied, graceful, 
and beneficial. 



THE INDIAN SCEPTRE EXERCISE. 

THE PORTION PRACTISED WITH CLUBS IN 
THE ARMY. 

1st. A sceptre is held by the handle, pendant 
on each side, (See Plate XVI, fig. 1); — that 
in the right hand is carried over the head and 



PORTION PRACTISED IN THE ARMY. 85 



left shoulder until it hangs perpendicularly on 
the right side of the spine, — (See Plate XVI, 
fig. 2); — that in the left hand is carried over 
the former, in exactly the opposite direction, 
(see the same figure), until it hangs on the 
opposite side; — holding both sceptres still pen- 
dant, the hands are raised somewhat higher than 
the head, (See Plate XVI, fig. 3); — with the 
sceptres in the same position, both arms are 
extended outward and backward, (See Plate 
XVII, fig. 3) ; — they are, lastly, dropped into 
the first position. — All this is done slowly. 

2d. Commencing from the same position, the 
ends of both sceptres are swung upward until 
they are held, vertically and side by side, at 
arms length, in front of the body, the hands 
being as high as the shoulders, (see Plate XVII, 
fig. 1); — they are next carried in the same 
position, at arms length, and on the same level, 
as far backward as possible, (see Plate XVII, 
fig. 2); — each is then dropped backward until 
it hangs vertically downward, (see Plate XVII, 
fig. 3); — and this exercise ends as the first. 
Previous, however, to dropping the sceptres 
backwards, it greatly improves this exercise, by 
a turn of the wrist upward and backward, to 
carry the sceptres into a horizontal position 



86 



INDIAN SCEPTRE EXERCISE. 



behind the shoulders, so that if long enough, 
their ends would touch, (see PlateXVIII, Jig. 1); 
— next, by a turn of the wrist outward and 
downward, to carry them horizontally outward, 
(see Plate XVIII, Jig. 2); — then by a tarn of 
the wrist upward and forward, to carry them 
into a horizontal position before the breast, 
(see Plate XVIII, Jig. 3) ; — again, to carry them 
horizontally outward; — and, finally, to drop 
them backward; — and thence to the first posi- 
tion. — All this is also done slowly. 

3d. The sceptres are to be swung by the 
sides, first separately, and then together, exactly 
as the hands were in the last extension motion. 

THE NEW AND MORE BEAUTIFUL PORTION NOW 
ADDED FROM THE INDIAN PRACTICE. 

1st. The sceptres are held upright in front of 
the body, the elbows being near the hanches, 
and the forearms horizontal, (see Plate XIX, 
Jig. 1); — the sceptre in the right hand is then 
carried over the head and left shoulder, (see 
Plate XIX, Jig. 2,) dropping as low as possible 
behind, (see Plate XIX, fig. 3,) and returning 
to its first position; — the same is done with the 
left hand ; — then with the right ; — and so on 



NEW AND MORE BEAUTIFUL PORTION. 87 

with each alternately. — All this is performed 
with a swinging motion, so that the end of each 
sceptre describes a circle which commences 
before the head, descends obliquely backward, 
and ascends again. 

2d. After carrying the sceptre in the right 
hand from the same position around the head 
and left shoulder, as already described, it is 
stretched horizontally outward by the extended 
arm, (see Plate XX, fig. 1); — and thence 
returned to the first position; — the same is then 
done with the left hand ; — and so on with each 
alternately. — The swing is here broken by the 
lateral extension. 

3d. The sceptres, held chiefly between the 
thumb and first and second fingers, rest on the 
fronts of the arms extended downward and 
slightly forward, and reach somewhat obliquely 
from the thumb and now inner side of the 
hands, of which the backs are turned forward, to 
the outsides of the shoulders, (see Plate XX, 
Jig. 2); — that held in the right hand is then 
thrown over the shoulder and hangs downward 
behind it, while the whole of that side of the 
body is turned forward, the back and neck 
bent, so that the chin is raised and the chest 
thrown upward, (see Plate XX, Jig. 3), and, 



88 



INDIAN SCEPTRE EXERCISE. 



as the body is again turned to the front, that 
sceptre is drawn over the shoulder and brought 
to its first position; — at the moment in which 
the body reaches the front, however, the same 
begins to be done with the left hand; — and so 
on with each alternately. 

4th, This differs from the second only in this 
respect, that the arms no longer act distinctly, 
but together ; their motions being blended by the 
left commencing as soon as the right has made 
its circle round the head, and forming its own 
circle while the right is extending, and so on with 
regard to each. — This explanation and a reference 
to the description and plates illustrating the first 
and second exercise, make this quite plain. 

5th. This differs from the third chiefly in this, 
that the arms no longer act distinctly, but to- 
gether ; both sceptres, however, being kept down 
until thelateral turn is complete (See Plate XXI, 
fig. 1), both being then thrown over the shoulders 
at once, with the back and neck bent, (See Plate 
XXI, fig. 2), and both returning gradually 
(See Plate XXI, fig. 3) over the shoulders as 
the body passes to the opposite side. 

6th. This is an exercise in which the lady 
crosses the apartment from side to side. The 
first exercise is here performed once with each 



NEW AND MORE BEAUTIFUL PORTION. 89 



arm, commencing with the arm of the side to- 
wards which the freer space permits her most 
readily to go. (See description and plates illus- 
trating the first Exercise.) Supposing this to be 
to the right of her first position, — on finishing 
the second circle of the first exercise, namely 
that with the left arm, and bringing it in front, 
both sceptres, being thrown to the right side, 
(See Plate XXII, jig. 1,) are swung with ex- 
tended arms to the left, sweeping in a circle down- 
ward in front of the feet, (See Plate XXII, jig. 
2,) of which the left being at that moment lifted 
to perform a wheel backward upon the right toe, 
the face is turned opposite to its first direction, 
ground is gained by the left foot placing itself 
toward what was originally the right side, and 
the ends of the sceptres, without the slightest 
pause, continue their sweep upward to their first 
position, (See Plate XXII, jig. 3.) The same 
is only repeated; the lady remembering always 
to commence with the arm of the side to which 
she means to advance. 



90 



THE POSITION IN WALKING. 

In all walking, the position is nearly the same, 
namely, that already described but modified by 
progression. 

PROPER POSITION. 

The head should be upright, easy, and capable 
of free motion, right, left, up, or down, without 
affecting the position of the body.— The body 
must be kept erect and square to the front, having 
the breast projected, and the stomach retracted, 
though not so as to injure either freedom of res- 
piration, or ease of attitude.- The shoulders 
should be kept moderately and equally back and 
low; and the arms should hang unconstrainedly 
by the sides. — The balance on the limbs must be 
perfect.— The knees should be straight, and the 
toes turned out as described. — The weight of the 
body should be somewhat thrown forward, as 
this facilitates progression. 

But though, in progression, the weight of the 
body should be thrown somewhat forward, it must 
be understood that this requires a voluntary 
effort, and consequently a kind of occupation of 



MILITARY POSITION. 



91 



the mind, with the mere mechanical act of pro- 
gression. This inclination of the body is, there- 
fore, unfavourable to thought, conversation, and 
the expression of emotion and passion by natural 
gesture. 

The moment, therefore, that these occupations 
of the mind occur, as in all walking for reflexion 
or conversation, the body falls naturally into the 
upright position, and is placed more or less at 
ease from the inclination and restraint which are 
necessary in progression. 

Hence it is that vain and imbecile creatures, 
incapable of thought, as the lads who become 
officers merely to wear a red coat with tinsel upon 
it, may in a moment be known by their senses 
and their will being evidently always and alto- 
gether directed to their manner of walking and 
to the adjustment of their persons. Such people 
are always weak-minded and worthless in all the 
duties of human life. 

MILITARY POSITION. 

The military position in walking does not es- 
sentially differ from this, except in points that 
exclusively regard the soldier :— -as that the head 
be kept well up and straight to the front, and the 



92 THE BALANCE STEP. 

eyes not turned to the right or left ; the arms and 
hands kept perfectly steady by the sides, and on 
no account suffered to move or vibrate; care 
however being taken that the hand does not cling 
to the thighs, or partake in the least degree of the 
movement of the limbs. 



THE BALANCE STEP. 

The object of this is to teach the free move- 
ment of the limbs, preserving at the same time 
perfect squareness of shoulders, with the utmost 
steadiness of body, and no labour is spared to 
attain this first and most essential object, which 
forms indeed the very foundation of good walking. 

The instructor must be careful that a habit is 
not contracted of drooping or throwing back a 
shoulder at these motions, which are intended 
practically to shew the true principles of walking, 
and that steadiness of body is compatible with 
perfect freedom in the limbs. 

WITHOUT GAINING GROUND. 

To ensure precision, the military words of com- 
mand are prefixed, 



GAINING GROUND. 



93 



Caution. — Balance step without gaining 
ground, commencing with the left foot. 

Front. — The left foot is brought gently forward 
with the toe at the proper angle, the foot about 
three inches from the ground, the left heel in line 
with the toe of the right foot. 

Rear. — When steady, the left foot is brought 
gently back (without a jerk), the left knee a little 
bent, the left toe brought close to the right heel. 
The left foot in this position will not be so flat as 
when in front, as the toe will be a little depressed. 

When steady, the words Front and Rear will 
>e given alternately, and repeated to the rear 
tiree or four times. 

To prevent fatigue, the word Halt will be 
gyen, when the ]eft foot, either advanced, or to 
tn rear, will be brought to the right. 

r he instructorwill afterwards cause the balance 
toe made upon the left foot, advancing and re- 
tirig the right in the same manner. 

GAINING GROUND. 

Ffot. — On the word Front, the left foot is 
brou^t smartly to the front as before ; the knee 
beingv ra ight,and the toe turned out a little to the 
left ai remaining about three inches from the 
grounc This posture is continued for a few 



94 



WALKING. 



seconds only in the first instance, till practice 
gives steadiness in the position. 

Forward. — On this word, the left foot is brought 
to the ground, at 30 inches from heel to heel, while 
the right foot is raised at the same moment, and 
continues extended to the rear. The body re- 
mains upright, but inclining forward; the head 
erect, and neither turned to the right nor left. 

Two. — On the word Two, the right foot is 
brought forward in a line with the left, the toe a 
little turned out, and the sole quite flat, but 
raised two inches from the ground. 

Front. — On the word Front, the right foot s 
brought forward, and so on. 



WALKING. 

WALKING IN GENERAL. 

Or all exercises, walking is the most snple 
and easy. The weight of the body rests one 
foot while the other is advanced ; it i then 
thrown upon the advanced foot while tb other 
is brought forward; and so on in success. 

In this mode of progression, the slow'ss and 
equal distribution of motion is such, tit many 



WALKING IN GENERAL. 



95 



muscles are employed in a greater or less 
degree; each acts in unison with the rest; and 
the whole remains compact and united. Hence, 
the time of its movements may be quicker or 
slower, without deranging the union of the 
parts, or the equilibrium of the whole. 

It is owing to these circumstances, that walking 
displays so much of the character of the walker, 
—that it is light and gay in women and children ? 
steady and grave in men and elderly persons, 
irregular in the nervous and irritable, measured 
in the affected and formal, brisk in the sanguine, 
heavy in the phlegmatic, and proud or humble, 
bold or timid, &c, in strict correspondence with 
individual character. 

The utility of walking exceeds that of all 
other modes of progression. While the able 
pedestrian is independent of stage-coaches and 
hired horses, he alone fully enjoys the scenes 
through which he passes, and is free to dispose 
of his time as he pleases. 

To counterbalance these advantages, greater 
fatigue is doubtless attendant on walking: but 
this fatigue is really the result of previous in- 
activity; for daily exercise, gradually increased, 
by rendering walking more easy and agreeable, 
and inducing its more frequent practice, di- 



96 



WALKING. 



minishes fatigue in such a degree, that very 
great distances may be accomplished with plea- 
sure, instead of painful exertion. 

In relation to health, walking accelerates 
respiration and circulation, increases the tem- 
perature and cutaneous exhalation, and excites 
appetite and healthful nutrition. Hence, as an 
anonymous writer observes, the true pedestrian, 
after a w r alk of twenty miles, comes in to break- 
fast with freshness on his countenance, healthy 
blood coursing in every vein, and vigour in every 
limb, while the indolent and inactive man, having 
painfully crept over a mile or two, returns to a 
dinner which he cannot digest. 

A firm, yet easy and graceful walk, however, 
is by no means common. There are few men 
who w-alk well, if they have not learnt to regulate 
their motions by the lessons of a master; and 
this instruction is still more necessary for ladies. 

Having now, therefore, taken a general view 
of the character and utility of walking, I subjoin 
some more particular remarks on the 

GENERAL MECHANISM OF WALKING. 

For the purpose of walking, we first bear upon 
one leg the weight of the body, which pressed 



GENERAL MECHANISM OF WALKING. 97 

equally on both. The other leg is then raised, 
and the foot quits the ground by rising from 
the heel to the point. For that purpose, the leg 
must be bent upon the thigh, and the thigh 
upon the pelvis : the foot is then carried straight 
forward, at a sufficient height to clear the 
ground without grazing it. To render it pos- 
sible, however, to move this foot, the hanch 
which rested with its weight upon the thigh 
must turn forward and outward. As soon as, by 
this movement, this foot has passed the other, it 
must be extended on the leg, and the leg upon 
the thigh. In this manner, by the lengthening 
of the whole member, and without being drawn 
back, it reaches the ground at a distance in 
advance of the other foot, which is more con- 
siderable according to the length of the step. 
It is then placed so softly on the ground as not 
to jerk or shake the body in the slightest degree. 
As soon as the foot which has been placed on 
the ground becomes firm, the weight of the body 
is transported to the limb on that side, and the 
other foot, by a similar mechanism, is brought 
forward in its turn. 

In all walking, the most important circum- 
stances are — 1st. That the body must incline 
somewhat forward; and, — 2d. That the move- 

K 



98 



WALKING. 



ment of the leg and thigh must spring from the 
hanch, and be directed straight forward in a 
free and natural manner. 

Walking may be performed in three different 
times — slow, moderate, or quick, which some- 
what modify its action. 

THE SLOW WALK, OR MARCH. 

In the march, the weight of the body is 
advanced from the heel to the instep, and the 
toes are most turned out. This being done, one 
foot, the left for instance, is advanced, with the 
knee straight, and the toe inclined to the 
ground, which, without being drawn back, it 
touches before the heel ; in such a manner, how- 
ever, that the sole, toward the conclusion of the 
step, is nearly parallel with the ground, which 
it next touches with its outer edge ; the right foot 
is then immediately raised from the inner edge of 
the toe, and similarly advanced, inclined, and 
brought to the ground ; and so in succession. 
—(Plate XXUI,jig. 1 and 2.) 

Thus, in the march, the toe externally first 
touches, and internally last leaves the ground; 
and so marked is this tendency, that, in a stage 
step, which is meant to be especially dignified, 
— as the posterior foot acquires an awkward 



THE MODERATE AND THE QUICK PACE. 99 

flexure when the weight has been thrown on the 
anterior, — in order to correct this, the former is 
for an instant extended, its toe even turned 
backward and outwards, and its tip internally 
alone rested on the ground, previous to its 
being in its turn advanced. — Thus the toe's first 
touching, and last leaving the ground, is pecu- 
liarly marked in this form of the march. 

This pace should be practised until it can be 
firmly and gracefully performed. 

It must be observed that the toe's first touch- 
ing and last leaving the ground in the march, 
gives to it a character of elasticity, and of spirit, 
vigour, or gaiety; and that when this is laid 
aside, and the whole sole of the foot is at once 
planted on the ground, it acquires a character of 
sobriety, severity, or gloom, which is equally 
proper to certain occasions. — This observation is 
in a less degree applicable to the following 
paces. 

THE MODERATE AND THE QUICK PACE. 

These will be best understood by a reference 
to the pace which we have just described; the 
principal difference between them being as to 
the advance of the weight of the body, the 



100 



WALKING. 



turning out of the toes, and the part of the foot 
which first touches and last leaves the ground. 

We shall find, that the times of these two 
paces require a further advance of the weight, 
and suffer successively less and less of turning 
out the toes, and of this extended touching with 
the toe, and covering the ground with the foot. 

THE MODERATE PACE. 

Here, the weight of the body is advanced from 
the heel to the ball of the foot; the toes are less 
turned out; and it is no longer the toe, but the 
ball of the foot, which first touches and last 
leaves the ground; its outer edge, or the ball of 
the little toe first breaking the descent of the 
foot; and its inner edge, or the ball of the 
great toe last projecting the weight. — (See 
Plate XXIV, Jig. 1 and 2.) 

Thus, in this step, less of the foot may be said 
actively to cover the ground; and this adoption 
of nearer and stronger points of support and 
action is essential to the increased quickness 
and exertion of the pace. 

The mechanism of this pace has not been 
sufficiently attended to. People pass from the 
inarch to the quick pace, they know not how; 



THE QUICK PACE. 



101 



and hence all the awkwardness and embarrass- 
ment of their walk when their pace becomes 
moderate, and the misery they endure when 
this pace has to be performed by them unaccom- 
panied, up the middle of a long and well-lighted 
room, where the eyes of a brilliant assembly are 
exclusively directed to them. Let those who 
have felt this but attend to what we have here 
said: the motion of the arms and every other 
part depend on it. 



THE QUICK PACE. 

Here, the weight of the body is advanced 
from the heel to the toes; the toes are least 
turned out ; and still nearer and stronger points 
of support and action are chosen. The outer 
edge of the heel first touches the ground, and 
the sole of the foot projects the weight. 

These are essential to the increased quickness 
of this pace. — (Plate XXV, Jig. 1 and 2.) 

It is important to remark, as to all these 
paces, that the weight is successively more 
thrown forward, and the toes are successively 
less turned out. In the theatrical form of the 
march, previously alluded to, the toes, aa we 

k2 



102 



WALKING. 



have seen, are, in the posterior foot, though 
but for a moment, even thrown backwards; in 
the moderate pace, they have an intermediate 
direction; and in the quick pace, they are thrown 
directly forward.— (See Plates XXIII, XXIV, 
and XXV.) 

It is this direction of the toes, and still more 
the nearer and stronger points of support and 
action, namely, the heel and sole of the foot, 
which are essential to the quick pace so univer- 
sally practised, but which, together with the 
greater inclination of the body, being ridicu- 
lously transferred to the moderate pace, make 
unfortunate people look so awkward as we shall 
now explain. 

The time of the moderate pace is, as it were, 
filled up by the more complicated process of the 
step — by the gradual and easy breaking of the 
descent of the foot on its outer edge or the ball 
of the little toe, by the deliberate positing of the 
foot, by its equally gradual and easy projection 
from its inner edge or the ball of the great toe.— 
The quick pace, if its time be lengthened, has 
no such filling up: the man stumps at once 
down on his heel, and could rise instantly from 
his sole, but finds that, to fill up his time, he 
must pause an instant; he feels that he should 



WALKING. 



103 



do something, and does not know what; his 
hands suffer the same momentary paralysis as 
his feet; he gradually becomes confused and 
embarrassed ; deeply sensible of this, he at last 
exhibits it externally ; a smile or a titter arises, 
though people do- not well know at what; but, 
in short, the man has walked like a clown, 
because the mechanism of his step has not filled 
up its time, or answered its purpose. 



In the general walking of ladies, the step ought 
not to exceed the length of the foot; the leg 
should be put forward, without stiffness, in about 
the fourth position ; but without any effort to turn 
the foot out, as it throws the body awry, and 
gives the person the appearance of a professional 
dancer; the arms should fall in their natural 
position, and all their movements and opposi- 
tions to the feet should be easy and uncon- 
strained ; and the pace should be neither too slow 
nor too quick. 

The gait should be in harmony with the per- 
son — natural and tranquil, without giving the 
appearance of difficulty in advancing; and active, 
without the appearance of being in a hurry. 

Nothing can be more ridiculous than a little 

6 



104 



WALKING. 



woman, who takes innumerable minute steps 
with great rapidity, to get on with greater speed, 
except it be a tall woman, who throws out long 
legs as though she would dispute the road with 
the horses. 



I trust that the mechanism and time of the 
three paces, are here, for the first time, simply, 
clearly, and impressively described. I have not 
seen them rightly described elsewhere, which I 
think discreditable to the people whose business 
it is to teach such things. It becomes, indeed, 
of real importance among certain classes of 
society, and in certain situations; and I should 
be unworthy of my name, if I neglected it. 

The following is the more imperfect, but, for 
practice, still useful, military description, with 
its words of command. 

SLOW STEP. 

March. — On the word march, the left foot is 
carried thirty inches to the front, and, without 
being drawn back, is placed softly on the ground, 
so as not to jerk or shake the body; seventy-five 
of these steps being to be taken in a minute. 



DOUBLE MARCH. 



105 



(The recruit is ordered to be carefully trained, 
and thoroughly instructed in this step, as an 
essential foundation for arriving at accuracy in 
the paces of more celerity. This is the slowest 
step at which troops are to move.) 

QUICK STEP. 

The cadence of the slow pace having become 
perfectly habitual, a quick time is next taught, 
which is 108 steps in a minute, each of 30 
inches, making 270 feet in a minute. 

Quick March. — The command Quick March 
being given with a pause between them, the word 
Quick is to be considered as a caution, and the 
whole remain perfectly steady. On the word 
March, the whole move off, conforming to the 
direction already given. 

(This pace is applied generally to all move- 
ments by large as well as small bodies of troops; 
and therefore the recruit is trained and tho- 
roughly instructed in this essential part of his 
duty.) 

DOUBLE MARCH. 

The directions for the march apply, in a great 
degree, to this step, which is 150 steps in the 



106 



WALKING. 



minute, each of 36 inches, making 450 feet in 
a minute. 

Double March.— On the word Double March, 
the whole step off together with the left feet; 
keeping the head erect, and the shoulders 
square to the front; the knees are a little bent; 
the body is more advanced than in the other 
marches; the arms hang with ease down the out- 
side of the thigh. The person marching is care- 
fully habituated to the full pace of 36 inches, 
otherwise he gets into the habit of a short trot, 
which defeats the obvious advantages of this 
degree of march. 

In the army, great advantage attends the 
constant use of the plummet ; and the several 
lengths swinging the times of the different 
marches in a minute, are as follows : 



Slow time, 75 steps in the minute 24,96 



A musket-ball suspended by a string which is 
not subject to stretch, and on which are marked 
the different required lengths, answers the above 
purpose, may be easily acquired, and is directed 
to be frequently compared with an accurate 
standard in the adjutant's possession. The length 



In. Hun. 



Quick time, 108 . . 
Double march, 150 



12,03 
6,26 



PARTICULAR UTILITY OF WALKING. 107 

of the plummet is to be measured from the point 
of suspension to the centre of the ball. 

In practising all these paces, the pupils should 
also be accustomed to march upon a narrow 
plane, where there is room for only one foot, 
upon rough uneven ground, and on soft ground 
which yields to the foot, &c. 



PARTICULAR UTILITY OF WALKING. 

Walking attracts the fluids to the inferior 
members more than to the upper, to which it 
gives little strength. 

It is wrong, however, to assert that this exer- 
cise moves only the inferior parts of the body, 
while all the superior parts remain at rest ; and 
that the liquids, to which the first have given a 
brisk impulse, must experience from the others a 
considerable resistance, which renders their 
course little uniform, and their distribution 
unequal. 

Walking is not an exercise of the lower mem- 
bers only. The pelvis, as we have shown, 
moves from side to side as well as the body, so 
as to throw the weight upon the limb which is 
firm on the ground. This movement is more 



108 



WALKING. 



decided, according to the size of the pelvis. 
For this reason, children, in whom the pelvis is 
narrower, walk better than men ; whilst, in fe- 
males, the distance between the thigh bones 
renders walking more difficult, though they take 
very small steps. The arms also move alter- 
nately with the legs. But all these movements 
follow each other, and can, as we know, be 
repeated for a long time without fatigue, because 
the muscles which are exercised are sometimes 
in repose and sometimes in contraction. 

Notwithstanding this, walking is less a suffi- 
cient employment of the muscles, than a kind of 
repose and relaxation. Moderate walking, in- 
deed, exercises the very gentlest influence over 
all the functions. 

Walking on a smooth soft surface is an exer- 
cise that may be followed without inconvenience, 
and even with advantage after meals. The cir- 
cumstance under which it may be most bene- 
ficial, is in convalescence, or when suffering 
under the fatigue of a forced exercise of the 
intellectual faculties. 

If, however, we walk purely by regimen, the 
walk, not interesting us sufficiently to carry us 
out of ourselves, permits us to think too much 
of the motive which causes us to walk, and which 



RUNNING AND LEAPING. 



109 



consequently becomes a subject of mental con- 
tention, capable of preventing the effect of such 
a remedy. 

There is also this inconvenience in the soli- 
tary walks of persons in feeble health, or of a 
melancholic temperament, that they enable such 
persons to deliver themselves up to those dis- 
tempered ideas on which they feed; so that the 
result derived from it, is to return with the head 
and feet fatigued, and to fall into a languor 
worse than that from which escape was desired. 

Real labour, in truth, is necessary for mankind ; 
and the most advantageous is that which exer- 
cises equally the body and the mind. It is thus 
that walking may become a relaxation as salu- 
tary as agreeable, that " the pure air, the cool 
shade, and the sweet perfume of flowers, pour 
efficaciously into the mind, with the forgetfulness 
of past occupations, the necessary powers to 
support new ones." 



RUNNING AND LEAPING. 

Owing to the excessive shocks which both of 
these exercises communicate, neither of them 
are very congenial to woman. 

L 



110 EXERCISES OF THE FEET. 

In consequence of the size of the pelvis, wo- 
men are obliged to balance the centre of gravity 
from one side to another, in a large space, 
which renders these exercises very inconvenient, 
and which made Rousseau say, " Women are 
not made for running : when they fly, it is that 
they may be caught. Running is not the only 
thing they do awkwardly; but it is the only 
thing they do without grace." 

Leaping might be still more dangerous than 
running, under many circumstances peculiar to 
their sex. 



EXERCISES OF THE FEET. 

BENDS IN POSITION. ' 

Bending the hips and knees so as to turn the 
latter outward and rather backward, without 
raising the heel, and, while thus lowering the 
body, still keeping it perfectly erect, is an exer- 
cise which should be performed in each of the 
five positions. It imparts flexibility to the in- 
step, and tends greatly to improve the balance. 

In this exercise, the knees should be but slightly 



BATTEMENS IX POSITION. 



Ill 



bent at first, and the pupil may support herself 
first with both hands, then alternately with each, 
against some fixed object, until she acquire 
greater power and facility. She must not try to 
raise herself by swinging the arm, which should 
rather be occupied in holding out the dress. 

When the bends in the various positions can 
be performed perfectly, without any support, and 
without discomposing the proper state of the 
body and arras, the pupil should endeavour, in 
concluding each bend, to raise herself on the toes, 
being careful that the knees are kept straight, 
and that the feet do not change their positions. 
(See Plate XXVI, Jig. 1.) This imparts point 
to the feet, and increases the power of the instep 
and ankle. 

BATTEMENS IN POSITION. 

Battemens consist of the motions of one leg in 
the air, whilst the other supports the body. 

The frequent practice of the battemens in the 
positions further improves the balance, as well as 
the power and flexibility of the ankles and instep, 
imparts brilliancy and correctness of execution, 
ameliorates the carriage of the arms, facilitates 
the developement of the bust, and produces a 
general harmony of movements. 

l 2 



112 



EXERCISES OF THE FEET. 



Battemens are of three kinds, viz. grands 
battemens, petits battemens, and battemens on 
the instep. 

The grands battemens are performed by de- 
taching the extended leg outward and upward 
as far as convenient, letting it again fall into 
the fifth position, and crossing either behind or 
before. 

Grands battemens may also be made either 
forwards, or backwards; and they are then called 
battemens en avant, or battemens en arriere. 

In battemens en avant, the right leg, with the 
knee straight, is, with a jerk, raised from the 
fifth position into the fourth in front, as high as 
the left knee; keeping the toes pointed, and the 
foot in the same position as if on the ground 
(See Plate XXVI, Jig. 2), and letting the 
leg fall back into the fifth position in front. The 
left leg remains steady, the knee straight, and the 
whole weight of the body upon it. 

In battemens en arriere, the right foot is thrown 
up behind in the fourth position (See Plate 
XXVI, Jig. 3), the same circumstances being 
attended to as in the battemens en avant, and 
great attention being paid to prevent the body 
inclining forward. 

In performing the battemens en avant and en 



BATTEMENS IN POSITION. 



113 



arriere, professional dancers raise the foot much 
higher. 

Petits battemens, or battemens on the second 
position, are performed in the same way, but in- 
stead of raising the leg into the air, we only de- 
tach it a little from the other leg, without letting 
the toe leave the ground. For this purpose, the 
pupil, at first supporting herself as in bending, 
must pass the foot into the second position (See 
Plate XXVII, fig. 1), the knee being kept per- 
fectly straight, must draw it back into the fifth 
position before, pass it again into the second 
position, and draw it into the fifth behind, re- 
peating this until she can perform these batte- 
mens with correctness, ease and rapidity. 

In petits battements on the instep, it is the hip 
that prepares the movements : the muscles of the 
hip guide the thigh in its openings, and the hip 
joint by its rotation directs the foot, while the knee 
by its flexion, performs the battemens, making the 
lower part of the leg cross either before or be- 
hind the other leg, which rests on the ground. 

If the pupil is standing on the left foot, with 
the right leg in the second position, and the 
right foot just touching the ground at the toe, 
she must cross before the left, by bending the 
knee and opening again sideways; must then 

l3 



114 EXERCISES OF THE FEET. 



bend the knee again, crossing the foot behind 
(See Plate XXVII, Jig. 2), opening also side- 
ways ; and must so continue to do several of these 
battemens, one after the other, with increasing 
rapidity. 

Petits battemens may be first performed with 
one foot entirely on the ground; but afterwards, 
the pupil lifts the heel from the ground, rests 
entirely on the toes, and executes the battemens 
in that position. 

These battemens have a very pretty effect, pro- 
duce great ease and suppleness in the joints just 
mentioned, and give much brilliancy to the 
motions of the legs. 

THE CIRCLES, OR RONDS DE JAMBES. 

These are performed by each foot, while the 
body rests on the other, aided at first by the sup- 
port of a hand. In doing this, the body remains 
square to the front, and the feet are turned well out. 

In the circling limb, the knee, being straight 
as well as turned out, and the toe pointed down- 
ward, the circle is begun backward or forward, 
passes upward as far as convenient, forward or 
backward as far as possible, and then downward, 
so as to make a perfect circle; and this is to be 
repeated several times with each limb. 



THE CIRCLES. 



115 



To begin the circle from the outside, the pupil 
adopts the same position as that in which she 
commences the petits battemens; and, supposing 
she rests on the left leg, whilst the right, in the 
second position, is prepared for the movement, 
she makes the latter describe a semicircle back- 
wards, which brings the legs to the first position, 
and she, without pausing, continues the sweep 
till it completes the whole circle, ending- at the 
place whence it began. 

The circle from the inside is begun in the same 
position ; but the right leg commences the circle 
forwards, instead of backwards. 

After the pupil has practised the circle on the 
ground, she should exercise herself in performing 
it in the air, holding the leg that supports the 
body, on the toes. 

When she has acquired some facility in this, 
she should practise without holding, which gives 
uprightness and balance, essential qualities in a 
dancer. 

Nothing more effectually ensures a good balance 
and supples the hip-joint, than the circles. 



It is equally necessary to go through the posi= 
tions, bendings, battemens, and circles, with the 
left foot as with the right. 



PART III. 



COMBINATIONS OF EXERCISE. 



DANCING. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

Dancing, however unscientifically it may at 
present be cultivated, is in reality the first of the 
fine arts, or that which involves the general and 
actual use of the muscular motions of the body, 
which are imitated by sculpture and painting. 
Scientifically practised, it is obvious that this art 
would not be inferior in expression to those which 
are merely imitative. 

The dancing of the ancients was not a series 
of tricks with the muscles : it spoke as plainly as 
sculpture or painting. Hence the respect in 
which its professors were held, and the language 
of Cicero respecting Roscius.* Every one is 

* u Quis nostrum tarn animo agresti ac duro fuit, ut Roscii 
morte nuper non commovetur ? qui cum esset senex mor- 



DANCING. 



117 



aware of the great effect which this art produced 
in ancient Rome, where it must have constituted 
a species of Acted Language. It is probable that 
those who practised it there were in possession 
of better principles than those which are now 
acted upon, and it is to be regretted that, at the 
present day, the improvement of this art is en- 
tirely left to persons unqualified for the task. 

Gallini and others have so well described some 
of the most celebrated national dances, both 
ancient and modern, that I shall here follow 
them, with slight alteration, in a description of 
these. 

The dances of the Greeks were figurative imi- 
tation of actions and manners. Hence Lucian 
requires of a dancer to be a good pantomime, and 
at the same time to be well acquainted with the 
history of the gods, or with mythology. In all 
the festivals of which those deities were the ob- 
jects, their respective praises were sung, and those 
dances were executed, which represented the 
most striking particulars of their history ; as the 
triumph of Bacchus, the nuptials of Vulcan, the 
events celebrated in the festivals of Adonis, the 

tims, tamen, videbatur omnino mori non debuisse. Ergo 
ille corporis motu tantum amorem sibi conciliaret a nobis 
omnibus, &c. ?" 



118 



DANCING. 



loves of Diana and Endymion, the flight of 
Daphne, the judgment of Paris, &c. The ges- 
tures, steps, movements and airs, expressed these 
situations. 

The Cretan dance, the most ancient of all, has 
been described by Homer on the famous shield 
of Achilles. 

After many other pictures, says he, Vulcan re- 
presents, with surprising variety, a figured dance, 
such as the ingenious Dedalus invented at 
Cnossus, in Crete, for the beautiful Ariadne. 
Young men and maidens, holding one another by 
the hand, dance together: the girls are habited 
in the richest stuffs, and wear on their heads 
coronets of gold : the young men appear in gar- 
ments of brilliant colours. This troop* dance, 
sometimes in a round, with so much correctness 
and rapidity, that the motion of a wheel cannot 
be more equal and rapid. Now the circle of 
the dance breaks, and opens; then the youths, 
holding each other by the hand, describe in the 
figure an infinite number of turns and windings. 
This is the image of the dance which the Cretans 
dance at this day. The music for it is soft, and 
begins slow; afterwards it becomes more lively, 

* Here the poet, from his knowledge of the dance, de- 
scriptively supplies the want of motion in the sculpture. 



DANCING. 



119 



more animated; and the young woman who leads 
the dance describes a number of figures and turns, 
of which the variety forms a very pleasing sight. 

This dance of Dedalus produced, anciently, 
another, which was only a more complex imita- 
tion of the same subject. 

In the modern Greek dance, the maidens and 
young men, while performing the same steps and 
the same figures, dance, at first, separately. 
After this, the two troops join, and mix so as to 
compose but one company of dancers in around. 
Then it is that a maiden leads the dance, taking 
a man by the hand, between whom there is soon 
displayed a handkerchief or a riband, of which 
the couple respectively have each hold of an end. 
The others (and the file or row usually is not a 
short one) pass and repass successively under the 
riband. At first, they go rather slowly in a 
round, after which the conductress, having made 
a number of turnings and windings, rolls the 
circle round her. The art of this female dancer 
is to extricate herself from the maze, and to re- 
appear on a sudden at the head of the circle, 
shewing in her hand, with a triumphant air, her 
silken string, just as when she began the dance. 

The meaning of the dance is obvious enough ; 



120 



DANCING. 



and the description of it becomes still more inter- 
esting, when the history of its institution is known. 

Theseus returning from his expedition into 
Crete, after having delivered the Athenians from 
the heavy yoke of the tribute imposed upon them 
by the Cretans, himself vanquisher of the Mino- 
taur, and possessor of Ariadne, stopped at Delos; 
and, after performing a solemn sacrifice to Venus, 
and dedicating a statue to her, which his mistress 
had given him, he danced with the young Athe- 
nians a dance, which in Plutarch's time was still 
in use among the Delians, and in which the mazy 
turns and windings of the labyrinth were imitated. 

Callimachus, in his hymn on Delos, mentions 
this dance, and says that Theseus, when he in- 
stituted it, was himself the leader of it. Eus- 
tachius, on the eighteenth book of the Iliad, says 
that anciently the men and women danced sepa- 
rately, and that it was Theseus who first made to 
dance together the young men and maidens whom 
he had delivered from the labyrinth, in the man- 
ner that Dedalus has taught them. At Cnossus, 
says Pausanias, is preserved that choral dance 
mentioned in the Iliad of Homer, and which 
Dedalus composed for Ariadne. 

At this very day, then, we see in the Greek 



DANCING. 



121 



dance, Ariadne leading- her Theseus. Instead 
of the thread, she has a handkerchief or string in 
her hand, of which her partner holds the. other 
end; and, under the string", all the rest of the 
dancers pass to and fro, threading it at pleasure. 
The tune and the dance begin at first with a slow 
measure; and the figure is always circular— this 
is the enclosure. Afterwards, the tune grows 
more sprightly ; and the turns and windings mul- 
tiplying form the maze. Ariadne, now at the 
head, now in the rear of the dance, turns rapidly, 
advances, retires, bewilders and loses herself in 
the midst of a numerous crowd of dancers, who 
follow her and describe various turns around her : 
Ariadne is in the midst of the maze. You would 
imagine her terribly perplexed how to extricate 
herself, when, on a sudden, you see her reappear, 
with her string in her hand, at the head of the 
dance, which she finishes in the same form as she 
began it. Then it is that one remembers, with 
pleasure, the bewildering mazes of the labyrinth, 
which are the better figured, in proportion to the 
skill of the maiden who leads the dance, and pro- 
longs it most with the greatest variety of turns, 
windings and evolutions. 

Frequently too, the young men and girls, from 
being intermixed, separate to form two dances, 

M 



122 



DANCING. 



at once; that is to say, the male dancers hold up 
their arms under which the maidens, passing, and 
holding one another by the hand, dance before 
them; after which they return as before, and 
make but one row. 

This is plainly the little band of Theseus, form- 
ing the like division. — Here then is the origin of 
this Greek dance. Dedalus composed it at first 
for Ariadne, in imitation of his own famous fabric 
of the labyrinth. Ariadne danced it afterwards 
with Theseus, in memory of his happy issue out 
of that maze. This ancient monument has long 
ceased to be in existence ; but the dance to which 
it gave rise is still preserved. 

On this subject, it may be worth while to add, 
as illustrating the connexion of poetry and 
music with dancing, that the dance which 
Theseus instituted, at his return from Crete, 
and which he himself danced at the head of a 
numerous and splendid band of youth, round 
the altar of Apollo, was composed of three 
parts ; the strophe, the antistrophe, and the 
stationary. In the strophe, the movements were 
from the right to the left. In the antistrophe, 
from the left to the right. In the stationary, 
they danced before the altar. 

The Spartans constantly accompanied their 



DANCING. 



123 



dances with hymns and songs. Every one knows 
that which they sung for the dance, called 
Trichoria, from its being composed of three 
choirs, the one of children, another of young 
men, and the third of old. The old men opened 
the dance, saying, " In time past we were 
valiant." — " We are so at present," was the re- 
sponse of the young. — " We shall be still more 
so when our time comes," replied the chorus of 
the children. 

Thus the art of dancing, confined at present 
to imitate the movements of music, which is 
itself often without any meaning or object of 
imitation, expressed, in those times, not only 
the actions, but the inclinations, the customs, 
the manners : it figured the greatest events ; 
formed the body to strength, to agility, to dex- 
terity, and gave graces to it : in short, it 
comprehended and regulated the whole art of 
gesture, that art now-a-days so arbitrary, so 
uncertain, and so contracted. 

The Greeks not only established academies 
for this exercise, but instituted games at which 
prizes were contended for, by excellence in the 
art. It was in practice among their military 
exercises ; it took place at their entertainments, 
and animated their solemn festivals; even the 

M 2 



124 



DANCING. 



poets recited and sang their compositions while 
dancing. 

Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Plutarch, Lucian, 
Athenseus, and most of the Greek authors, 
accordingly, treat of dancing with approbation, 
and even with encomia. Anacreon boasts, in 
his old age, that he still retains his passion 
for dancing. Aspasia, by her power of inspiring 
love, could make the sage Socrates, though 
advanced in years, suspend the gravity of 
his philosophy, to take a share in the dance. 
Aristides was not withheld by the presence of 
Plato, from dancing at an entertainment of 
Dionysius the Tyrant. Scipio Africanus, after 
the example of these great men, was not ashamed 
of learning and practising the dance ; nor did 
his dignity and manliness at all suffer thereby in 
the opinion of the Romans. It was reckoned 
among the merits of Epaminondas, that he had 
a peculiar talent for music and dancing. — But 
if the men valued themselves on their excelling 
in the art of dancing, to the women it became 
an indispensable accomplishment. 

The cultivated dance, which is introduced in 
the pantomime and ballet, is a humble approach 
to that of the ancients, and might be rendered 
highly expressive. 



THE FANDANGO. 



125 



Next to this are the modern dances to which 
the term National' is, with some propriety, 
applied. 

Of these, the Spanish dances, like their language, 
are those which, in truth of expression, approach 
the nearest to those of antiquity. 

The Fandango is the leading dance of the 
Spaniards, and that which stands in highest esti- 
mation. Their other dances are little more than 
imitations of it, and are looked upon only as 
second-rate. 

The Fandango is danced by two persons, and 
accompanied by castanets, instruments made of 
walnut-wood or of ebony. The music, in the 
time of |, is a rapid movement. The sound of 
the castanets, and the movements of the feet, 
arms and body, keep time with the greatest 
nicety. 

In the steps of the Fandango, it is the light- 
ness, the grace, the elasticity, the balance, 
which are remarkable; and the more majestic 
movements express those feelings which mark 
the national character. The arms are always 
expanded, and their movements, in whatever 
direction, are always undulating. 

This dance describes with vivacity the tender 
feeling which a beloved object inspires; and the 

m 3 



126 DANCING. 

sincerity of the avowal. The eyes, often directed 
towards the feet, glance over every part of the 
body, and testify the pleasure which symmetry 
of form inspires. The attitudes, the agitations 
of the body, the waverings, are the representa- 
tives of love, of gallantry, of impatience, of 
uncertainty, of vexation, of confusion, of de- 
spair, of revival, of satisfaction, and, finally, of 
happiness. It is by these different gradations of 
the passions that the nature of the Spanish dance 
is characterised. 

The attitudes, and the graceful and volup- 
tuous groupings of the Fandango, accompanied 
by the cadences and thrillings of the music, 
have a powerful effect upon every spectator. 

The lower orders in Spain accompany this 
dance with gross attitudes; and their extravagant 
movements cease only when they are completely 
tired out. 

The Bolero is a dance far more restrained, 
modest and dignified, than the Fandango. It 
is executed by two persons ; and is composed of 
five parts, namely — the paseo or promenade, 
which is a kind of introduction ; the traversias 
or crossing, which alters the position of the places ; 
the latter being done both before and after the 
differencias, a measure in which a change of steps 



THE BOLERO. 



127 



takes place ; then follow the finales; and lastly 
the bien parado, a graceful attitude, or grouping 
of the couple who are dancing. 

The steps of the Bolero are performed terre- 
a-terre : they are either sliding, beaten, or re- 
treating, being always clearly marked. 

The air of the Bolero is generally in the time 
of | : there are some, however, in the time of |. 
The music is extremely varied, and full of 
cadences. The air or melody may be changed; 
but its peculiar rhythm must be preserved, toge- 
ther with its time and its flourishes, which latter 
are called also false pauses. 

The original character of these dances, their 
pleasing and varied figure, and their expression 
of tender and agreeable feelings, have always 
obtained for them a marked preference; and, 
indeed, with respect to these peculiar qualities, 
there are few dances of other nations worthy of 
being compared with them. The music also 
that accompanies them, or, rather, that inspires 
them, is of a melody so sweet and original, that 
it finds an instantaneous welcome into the heart, 
The striking features of the Spanish girls, more- 
over, their expressive looks, their light figure, 
which seems formed for the dance, conspire to 
raise delight in the spectator. Finally, nothing 



128 



Dancing. 



can be handsomer in design, or more beautiful 
in its ornaments and variety of colours, than the 
picturesque costume of the dancers. 

The Neapolitan Tarantella is, of all modern 
dances, the liveliest and most diversified, but, 
like the Siciliana, it possesses much similitude 
to the Fandango. Both are, perhaps, but par- 
ticularly the former, a mixture of Spanish and 
Italian dancing, and must have had their rise 
on the introduction of the Spanish style into 
Italy. The Tarantella is gay and voluptuous; 
its steps, attitudes and music, still exhibiting 
the character of those who invented it. 

This dance is generally supposed to have de- 
rived its name from the Tarantula, a venomous 
spider of Sicily. Those, it is said, who have been 
bitten by it cannot escape destruction, but by 
violent perspiration, which forces the poison out 
of the body through the pores of the skin ; and, 
it is added, as exercise is the principal and surest 
method to effect this perspiration, music has 
been found to be the only incentive to the mo- 
tion of the unhappy sufferers : it excites them to 
leap about, until extreme fatigue puts an end to 
their exertions ; they then fall ; and the perspi- 
ration thus occasioned seldom fails of effecting 
a cure. 

6 



THE FRENCH MINUET. 



129 



The music best adapted to the performance of 
this kind of miracle, is excessively lively : its 
notes and cadences are strongly marked, and of 
the | measure. 

Love and pleasure are conspicuous throughout 
this dance; and each motion, each gesture, is 
made with the most voluptuous gracefulness. 
The woman tries, by her rapidity and liveliness, 
to excite the love of her partner, who, in his 
turn, endeavours to charm her with his agility, 
elegance, and demonstrations of tenderness. 
The two dancers unite, separate, return, fly 
into each other's arms, again bound away, and, 
in their different gestures, alternately exhibit 
love, coquetry and inconstancy. Sometimes 
they hold each other's hands ; the man kneels 
down whilst the woman dances round him ; 
again he rises; again she starts from him, and 
he eagerly pursues. The eye of the spectator 
is incessantly diverted with the variety of senti- 
ments which they express; nor can any thing be 
more pleasing than their picturesque groups and 
evolutions. 

The French Minuet had, probably, the same 
origin. The whole, however, of French dancing 
is too French,— too vain and frivolous in its cha- 
racter, — too offensively marked by silly affecta- 



130 DANCING. 

tion and ridiculous tricks, which it mistakes for 
expression. This is particularly remarkable in 
those positions called arabesques, which they 
Frenchify from antique basso relievos, from a 
few fragments of Greek painting, and from the 
paintings in fresco at the Vatican ; and in those 
groups called by the same name, and formed of 
male and female dancers, interlaced in a thou- 
sand different manners, by means of garlands, 
crowns, hoops entwined with flowers, &c. 

In the higher species of dancing, should always 
be remembered the advice of Leonardo da Vinci, 
" Siano le attitudini degli uomini con le loro 
membra in tal modo disposte, che con quelle si 
dimostri l'intenzione del loro ammo.'' Or, as it 
is more vainly and glitteringly expressed by the 
French poet : — 

" Que la dance toujour.*, ou gaie ou serieuse, 
Soit de nos sentiuiens Timage ingenieuse ; 
Que tous ses mouvemens du eo?ur soient les echos, 
Ses gestes uu langage, et ses pas des tableaux!'' 

Of the common or social dances, the most 
beautiful is the Waltz. This dance, which came 
to us from Switzerland, has been modified and 
embellished in order to introduce into it variety, 

The Waltz is composed of two steps, each of 



THE WALTZ. 



131 



three beats to a bar, Each of these two steps 
performs the half- turn of the waltz, which lasts 
during one bar. The two steps united form the 
whole turn, and, therefore, the whole waltz, 
executed in two bars. These steps differ one 
from the other, in such a manner, however, as 
to fit one into the other during their perform- 
ance, so as to prevent the feet of one from 
touching and endangering those of the other : 
thus while the gentleman performs one step, the 
lady dances the other, so that both are executed 
with uninterrupted exactness. 

The gentleman should support the lady by 
his right hand above the waist, or, if waltzing 
be difficult to her, he should also support her 
right hand by his left. The arms should be 
kept in a rounded position, which is the most 
graceful, preserving them without motion; and, 
in this position one person should keep as far 
from the other, or make as large a circle, as 
the arms will permit, consistently with the 
rapidity of the music, so that neither may be 
incommoded. 

The Scottish reel, which is again becoming 
fashionable, is a far more beautiful dance than 
the French quadrille. 



132 

GENERAL UTILITY OF DANCING. 

Dancing embraces at the same time walking, 
running and jumping; but it does not ordinarily 
enter into our systems of Gymnastics or Callis- 
thenics, because it is taught by particular masters, 
and with a different intention. The ancients, 
however, who made all the pleasures of sense 
subservient to the benefit of the body, made the 
dance a part of their gymnastic exercises. 

All active exercises are more suitable to ladies 
in proportion as they require less power than grace 
and lightness. Upon this account, the dance, 
beyond doubt, is, of all exercises, the most suit- 
able to females. 

This happy combination of attitudes, steps, 
gestures and evolutions, which is sustained by the 
aid of rhythm, and during which the muscles and 
sensibilities are employed in a manner as useful 
as agreeable, is indeed an unexceptionable exer- 
cise for the lower extremities; provided always 
that the movements are not too protracted nor 
performed in a style more likely to enervate than 
fortify the organs. 



133 



STYLE. 

Tn dancing, there may be said to be two very 
different styles, — one that of the ballet, and ano- 
ther that of the ball-room. That which is beau- 
tiful in one of these, would be a defect in the 
other. It is the business of the professional 
dancer to astonish and delight; but it would be 
in bad taste for a lady to attempt any of those 
embellishments which are displayed on the stage. 
In society, dancing is merely an agreeable pas- 
time; and the lady desires only to glide through 
the figure with ease and grace. 

Private dancing requires steps terre-a-terre, 
the most simply natural postures, and a becoming 
grace, which add to natural charms, and heighten 
attractions. 

Neat execution, however, ease and grace are 
looked for in ball-room dancing; and these must 
be the result of diligent practice. This practice 
is the more necessary, because, while it tends 
greatly to improvement, it serves as a valuable 
exercise. 



134 



DANCING. 



OF THE FEET, &C. 

In the preparation, during the performance, 
and at the conclusion of steps, dancers ought to 
stand in the fifth position, and not in the third; 
for the more the feet are crossed, the more brilli- 
ant is the dancing. 

It is important to acquire a facility of turning 
the lower limbs, &c. outwards. 

By means of ease and power about the hip- 
joints, the thighs will move with freedom, the knees 
turn outwards, and all the openings of the legs 
be rendered easy and graceful. By practice and 
attention, this may be accomplished, without any 
painful efforts. — In some steps, the hips alone are 
set in motion, as in entrechats, battemens ten- 
dus, &c. 

The movement of the hip is a guide to that of 
the knee, as it is impossible for the latter to move 
unless the hip acts first. The knees then should 
be turned outward, and rendered pliant. 

It is of especial importance to acquire the 
power of turning the feet sufficiently outward. 

It is of scarcely less importance to acquire that 
of bending the instep, without effort, the moment 
the foot quits the ground, so as to step on the 
toes in raising the instep. — By practice, this part 
will habitually curve upward the moment the foot 



OF THE FEET. 



135 



is raised from the floor, and, by a strong and 
rapid movement, will ensure the fall upon the 
toes. 

Great activity about the instep renders dancing 
peculiarly light, brilliant and graceful. 

One of the ankles must not be suffered to be 
habitually higher than the other: this would be a 
very serious defect. 

Steps should be performed with minute neat- 
ness, and as closely, or in as small a compass, as 
possible. When rapidity is added to this, it en- 
sures lightness and brilliance. 

Each succeeding step must be well connected 
with the other, and all must be executed with an 
easy elegance. 

The moelleux, as the French term it, depends 
in a great degree on a proportionate flexion of 
the knees, but the instep must contribute, by its 
elasticity, to the elegance of the movement, and 
the loins must balance the frame, which the spring 
of the instep raises or lets down; the whole being 
in perfect harmony. 

Defect in these qualities inevitably induces the 
supposition that the dancer is either unusually 
dull, or has never had an opportunity of obtain- 
ing proper instruction. 

To attain these qualities, as well as to prevent 

n 2 



136 DANCING. 

deformity, it is necessary alternately to practise 
with each foot, so that both may attain an equal 
degree of facility and correctness. 

In relation to peculiarity of form, it may be 
observed that, if the bust is very long, the legs 
may be raised a little higher than common rules 
prescribe; and if very short, may be kept a little 
lower than the usual height. By this means, the 
defect in the construction of the body is less 
apparent. 

It is scarcely necessary to caution any lady 
against tossing the feet, lifting them high from 
the ground, or stampin^noisily. Graceful dan- 
cing consists in gliding, hot in jumping. 

On the other hand, the lady must not walk 
languidly and carelessly, as if she had no interest 
in the dance. This is not only ungraceful, but 
has the morally bad effect of making her appear 
to assume the air of condescending to join in an 
amusement which she despises. 

OF THE ARMS AND HANDS. 

The arms ought to be used as much as is con- 
sistent with graceful motion, in order that they 
may be developed equally with the lower parts of 
the body, and that the figure may be thus highly 



OF THE ARMS AND HANDS. 



137 



improved; for nothing can improve it more. As 
much of grace, moreover, depends on the proper 
position and motion of the arms, as on the exe- 
cution of steps. 

By professional dancers, the position, opposi- 
tion and carriage of the arms, are reckoned the 
three most difficult things in dancing. 

Great care, in the first place, must be taken 
not to raise the shoulders. 

The arms must not be spread out too far; their 
general situation being a little in front of the 
body, in an easy semi-oval position, the bend of 
the elbows scarcely perceptible, and the fingers 
grouped and presenting a slight turn to corres- 
pond with the contour of the arms. 

Ladies who are short in stature may hold the 
arms higher than the general rule prescribes, and 
those who are tall may hold them lower. 

The position and carriage of the arms must 
be soft and easy. They must make no extrava- 
gant movement, nor must the least stiffness be 
allowed to creep into their motions. Care must 
also be taken that they are not jerked by the 
action of the legs, a fault sufficient to degrade a 
dancer, whatever perfection she may possess in 
other respects. 

In regard to the attitude of the arms when thus 

n 3 



138 



dancing. 



free, an excellent article in the Ladies' Book, to 
which we are indebted for several observations, 
says " Of all the movements made in dancing, the 
opposition or contrast of the arms with the feet 
is the most natural to us : to this, however, but 
little attention is in general paid. If any person 
be observed, when in the act of walking, it will 
be found, that when the right foot is put forward, 
the left arm follows, and vice versa: this is at 
once natural and graceful; and a similar rule 
should, in all cases, be followed in dancing. . . 
The arms should advance or recede in a natural 
series of oppositions to the direction of the feet 
in the execution of the various steps; their move- 
ments, in performing these contrasts, must not be 
sudden or exaggerated, but so easy as to be al- 
most imperceptible. " 

This principle, though borrowed from the 
modern academy of painting, is altogether false, 
as 1 shall show in the following article on Gesture. 

Whenever the hands join, the arms should be 
kept of such moderate height as is consistent with 
grace. 

In presenting the hand, studied attitude is 
productive of too much effect, and shews an in- 
clination for display. 

It is almost needless to say that, to grasp the 



OF THE BUST. 



139 



hand of a person with whom it may be necessary 
to join hands, or to detain the hand Avlien it 
should be relinquished, are deemed unpardonable 
faults. 

It is almost as improper and quite as destruc- 
tive of grace, to throw one's weight upon the arms 
of those with whom it may be necessary to join 
hands. 

Ladies of course hold their dresses with the tips 
of their ringers. 

or THE BUST. 

The shoulders must be drawn down, the chest 
brought forward, and the bosom slightly projected ; 
for this confers beauty on the dancer's attitude, 
The waist must be held in as much as possible, 
the chest sustained firmly upon the loins, the 
upper part of the body reclined upon the hips, 
and the latter, as it were, expanded, in order to 
facilitate the motions of the legs. The whole_ 
body, however, must be well drawn up, and 
especially the head. 

By these means, the figure at once assumes a 
fine form, and that firmness which is necessary to 
prevent its participating in the movements of the 
limbs. 

All, however, that regards the position of the 



140 



DANCING. 



figure must be done without losing an easy and 
unaffected erect position. 

The dancer must acquire uprightness by means 
of a proper balance; never letting the body 
depart from the perpendicular line that should 
fall from the pit between the collar bones 
through the ankles. If the dancer moves one 
leg forwards, this pit naturally goes back out of 
its perpendicularity on that foot; if backwards, 
it is thrown before ; and thus it changes its place 
with every variation of position. 

In certain attitudes, however, which dancers 
momentarily throw themselves into as they 
spring from the ground, and also in inclined ara- 
besques, the central line of gravity is necessarily 
departed from, for an instant. It must incline 
forwards or backwards, according to the position 
adopted. 

In the performance of steps, the body must be 
firm and unshaken, yet perfectly pliant; its 
motions must be easy and always in accordance 
with those of the legs ; and it must be character- 
ized by a certain abandon, without losing the 
beauty of its position. 

For those ladies who are round shouldered, or 
carry their heads too much forward, it is recom- 
mended to walk an hour, or more, every day, 



OF THE HEAD. 



141 



with a book balanced on the head, without any 
assistance from the hands. The lower orders of 
Egyptian women, we are told, are remarkable for 
walking majestically and gracefully, chiefly in 
consequence of their frequently going down to 
the Nile, to bring up heavy burdens of water 
upon their heads. 

OF THE HEAD. 

In general, the head should be kept nearly 
centrally between the shoulders, by the erectness 
of the neck. But though straight, it must never 
be fixed, even in the lateral direction, but must 
incline a little to the right or to the left, whether 
the eyes are cast upwards, downwards, or straight 
forwards. 

In general, the turn of the head will naturally 
be made more or less to balance the figure; so 
that when the greatest weight is thrown to one 
side, the head will generally be turned in some 
degree to the other; the neck inclining imper- 
ceptibly, by a continued graceful motion, in ac- 
cordance with the music and the style of the 
dance. 

Generally the whole head should be thrown 
somewhat backward, though the forehead should 



142 DANCING. 

project in a very slight degree, by correspond- 
ingly drawing the chin towards the neck. 

The face must be occasionally turned to the 
right or left, both for convenience, and because 
much elegance or grace may be produced by its 
judicious direction, in relation to the position of 
the body or limbs. 

The look should be neither cast down, fixed, 
nor wandering: it should be upon the partner, 
without appearing scrupulously to follow him. 

The countenance should be animated and ex- 
pressive of cheerfulness or gaiety, and an agree- 
able smile should ever play about the mouth. 

OF THE WHOLE FIGURE. 

Rapidity, lightness, pliability, ease, harmony, 
elegance, are essential in a good dancer. 

Rapidity is very pleasing in a dancer ; lightness 
still more so. The former imparts brilliancy to 
the performance; the latter confers an aerial 
appearance that charms the spectator. 

Pliability and a graceful abandon are still 
higher qualities in a dancer. 

The keeping every part of the body, during its 
motions, in harmony with the rest, is a higher 
quality still. 



PECULIAR MANNER. 



143 



The highest quality is to display all the natural 
elegance that fancy can inspire in the carriage 
of the body, the action of the limbs, and the 
assumption of every attitude. No affectation 
must intermingle with the dance, but every atti- 
tude be natural and elegant. 

Smoothness and softness in the execution of 
the dance, ought especially to be aimed at by 
ladies. They thus also show that the exercise 
is natural to them, and that they have overcome 
the greatest difficulty, namely^ the concealment 
of art. 

PECULIAR MANNER. 

Ladies must dance in a manner very different 
from gentlemen. They must delight by neat 
and pretty terre-a-terre steps, by lithsome and 
graceful motions, and by a modest and gentle 
abandon in all their attitudes. 

The feet of women ought to be raised from the 
ground but very little above the method of the 
second position. 

The manner peculiar to each individual should 
be in harmony with the style of her beauty. 

If the features of a lady breathe gaiety and 
vivacity, if her shape be pretty, her dancing 
may be more animated, and she need not be 



144 DANCING. 

afraid of using a style almost brilliant, sissones 
battues, pas d'ete, &c. 

If, on the contrary, a lady is of elevated sta- 
ture and noble appearance, she must dance 
with calm elegance, or graceful dignity : slow 
steps and the softest movements will suit the 
style of her dancing. She must be careful, how- 
ever, not to degenerate into stiffness, or into a 
contemptuous and affected negligence, like many 
dancers who, to give themselves an elegant and 
majestic air, walk or drag themselves along, 
and are satisfied with performing, from time to 
time, a few isolated steps. 

Ladies who are neither very tall nor very 
short, and are endowed with requisite ability, 
may exert themselves, and may excel, in every 
kind of dance. 

CONTINUANCE. 

Every lady should desist from dancing the 
moment she feels any difficulty of breathing ; 
for oppression, overheating and perspiration 
render the most beautiful dancer an object of 
ridicule or of pity for the time. 

It is not, however, only this momentary fa- 
tigue that should be avoided, but also lasting 



UTILITY OF DANCING. 



145 



fatigue. When its gradual approach is felt, 
dancing should be left off; for it no longer 
affords either charm or pleasure. The steps and 
attitudes lose that easy elegance, that natural 
grace which bestow upon dancers the most 
enchanting appearance. The dance is nothing 
without grace : leave off before gracefulness 
leaves you. 

PARTICULAR UTILITY OF DANCING. 

Dancing contributes greatly to improve the 
figure. When habitually practised, it increases 
the strength, the suppleness and the agility of 
the body. The shoulders and arms then fall 
farther back; the limbs become stronger and 
more supple ; the feet turn more outward ; and 
the walk assumes a particular character of firm- 
ness and lightness. 

Dancing also renders the deportment more 
easy and agreeable, and the motions more free 
and graceful. Those, indeed, who learn to dance 
when very young, acquire an ease of motion 
that can be gained in no other way; and if a 
habit of moving gracefully is then acquired, it 
is never lost. It is owing to other causes that 
professional dancers are seldom remarkable for 
grace in any of the ordinary movements of life, 

o 



146 



DANCING. 



and that in the performance of these they are 
generally constrained, formal and automatic. 

As in its effect upon the muscles, dancing; 
does not exercise any so much as those of the 
lower part of the trunk, they generally exhibit 
an evident increase at the expense of the upper 
part of the body and arms. This, however, is 
not unfavourable to female form ; and the best 
proof of this is that this exercise produces, in 
men who make it their habitual practice, a great 
similarity in shape to women. 

In professional dancers, the excess of this 
exercise causes the pelvis to appear large, by the 
prodigious development of the surrounding mus- 
cles; the neck is thin ; the arms, meager; the 
shoulders seem narrow, and contrast strongly 
with the size of the pelvis, and especially with 
the enormous prominence of the hips. Dancers 
present a formation totally different from that of 
smiths and porters, in w 7 hom the shoulders, chest 
and arms are developed at the expense of the in- 
ferior parts and lower limbs. 

For these reasons, young persons, who dance 
a great deal, should always join with the dance 
some other exercise, as that of the Indian scep- 
tres, having for its object almost exclusively the 
development of the shoulders and arms. 

It is further observed that bad effects on the 



UTILITY OF DANCING. 



147 



form of the foot result from overstretching its 
ligaments; that very few opera-dancers can 
boast of a good instep off the stage; that when 
the foot is placed on the ground, the arch of the 
instep yields to the weight of the body, and 
allows the concave part "of the sole to rest on the 
same plane with the toes; that when, therefore, 
these persons walk, they never rise on the toe, 
nor bend the foot; and that, from their habit of 
turning the toes very much outwards, they ac- 
quire a peculiar mode of walking. 

To be useful to health, dancing must not be 
engaged in immediately after a meal, nor be 
continued whole nights, nor in places confined 
in proportion to the number of dancers. In 
these places, there is frequently a great quantity 
of dust, which, joined to animal exhalations, 
and carried with the atmospheric air into the 
lungs, contributes with the slightest cause, the 
least chill, to create irritation in the parts. 
These become the more serious, because, young 
people, especially of the female sex, are very 
careful to conceal the commencement of these 
affections, lest they interfere with their views 
of pleasure. 

In a physiological point of view, dancing does 
not differ from ordinary walking, excepting that 

o 2 
% 



148 



DANCING. 



the extensions and flexions are more quickly 
repeated, and that the body is every instant 
raised from the ground, and as if suspended in 
the air by the sudden straightening of the arti- 
culations. Thus, the commotions produced by 
this kind of exercise are stronger than those that 
occur in walking, and their effects on the organs 
contained in the trunk much more sensible. 
Some of the functions consequently are soon 
carried out of their habitual tone : the circula- 
tion becomes more rapid, the respiration more 
frequent, and perspiration more abundant. 

Dancing is an excellent exercise for females, 
because it powerfully counterbalances the inju- 
rious effects of their sedentary occupations. It 
is particularly suited to females in whom ennui 
and inaction have produced habitual indisposi- 
tion, to those who are of a lymphatic tempera- 
ment, but more especially to young persons in 
whom the appearance of the phenomena peculiar 
to their sex and age is slow, who are subject to 
irregularities, and even to symptoms of chlorosis. 
In this case, more confidence may be put in 
dancing than in the list of formulas that igno- 
rance and quackery send forth, Indeed, this 
exercise of the dance, to which young females 
resign themselves sometimes with great difficulty, 







UTILITY OF DANCING. 



149 



forms, in addition to a tonic regimen and delicate 
attentions, the most suitable treatment for ehlo- 
rotic affections. 

There are, however, several dances that should 
be abandoned by very delicate women, on account 
of their causing too violent emotions, or an agi- 
tation which produces vertigo and nervous symp- 
toms. Dances which require these violent shocks 
and the forcible employment of the muscles, are 
obviously unsuitable to females, in whose move- 
ments we look for elegance instead of strength, 
and in whom those violent and difficult efforts 
which we admire at the theatre, would create 
much more astonishment than delight. 

Vertigo is one of the great inconveniences of 
the waltz; and the character of this dance, its 
rapid turnings, the clasping of the dancers, their 
exciting contact, and the too quick and too long 
continued succession of lively and agreeable emo- 
tions, produce sometimes, in women of a very 
irritable constitution, syncopes, spasms and 
other accidents which should induce them to 
renounce it. 



150 



GESTURE. 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

This is, indeed, the chief accessory of thecarriage, 
and one of the greatest importance. 

There are persons who flatter themselves that 
they possess emphatic and expressive gestures, 
and who weary their unfortunate auditors by the 
eternal repetition of the most vehement and ridi- 
culous tricks, which they are pleased to designate 
as gesture. — Frequently extending the arm, 
striking the air as if they were sawing, striking 
the table with the hand, clapping the hands, 
shaking the head, elevating the shoulders, throw- 
ing themselves back, wagging the knees, pulling 
the fingers, raising and depressing the eyebrows 
alternately, pulling the skin of the neck, the 
face, the hands, &c. all these actions, which 
are chiefly met with amongst very lively persons, 
are very tiresome and disagreeable. 

Gestures produced by feeling, seldom used, 
not exaggerated, and really graceful, are at the 
same time the finish and ornament of discourse : 
they add to the beauty of the figure, and give, if 
we may so speak, an expressive physiognomy to 
the carriage. 



151 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE IN THE FINE ARTS \ 
APPLICABLE TO GESTURE IN ORATORy, 
TO SCULPTURE, THE HIGHER SPECIES 
OF PAINTING, ETC. AS WELL AS 
TO DANCING. 

Let us consider upon what principle these mo- 
tions and attitudes become most expressive — 
most perfectly excite ideas, emotions and passions, 
and answer all the purposes for which they are 
intended. 

The human figure consists of two symmetrical 
sides, which, as they are opposite to each other 
in situation, so are they in the actions which they 
perform. For in walking, we neither advance 
both arms nor both feet at the same time ; the 
one is uniformly thrown backward, the other for- 
ward, and so on alternately. Nor would we, in 
walking, even carry forward the arm of one side 
while the foot of the other is advanced, were not 
this necessary to accelerate the mere act of pro- 
gression. But in gesture, progression is by no 
means our object, nor ought we to imitate the 
mere act of walking. 

It is strange, then, that this very error should 
have been considered as a rule by the most scien= 
tific painters. 



152 



GESTURE. 



Sir Joshua Reynolds* says, u In the artificial 
management of the figures, it is directed that 
they shall contrast each other, according to the 
rules generally given ; that if one figure opposes 
his front to the spectator, the next figure is to 
have his back turned, and that the limbs of each 
individual figure be contrasted ; that is, if the 
right leg be put forward, the right arm is to be 
drawn backward and he adds, u It is very pro- 
per that those rules should be given in the 
Academy. " 

It is in the same spirit that Du Fresnoyf says, 

In every figurM group, the judging eye 
Demands the charms of contrariety ; 
In forms, in attitudes, expects to trace 
Distinct inflexions, and contrasted grace, 
Where art diversely leads each changeful line, 
Opposes, breaks, divides the whole design : 
Thus, when the rest in front their charms display, 
Let one, with face averted, turn away j 
Shoulders oppose to breasts, and left to right. 
With parts that meet, and parts that shun the sight. 
This rule, in practice uniformly true, 
Extends alike to many forms or few.% 



* Eighth Discourse. f De Arte Graphica. 

% " Inque figurarum cumulis non omnibus idem, 
Corporis inflexus, motusque $ vel artubus omnes 
Coriversis pariter non connitantur eodem ; 



PRINCIPLE OF. ATTITUDE. 



153 



From such a principle, great as the authorities 
may be which support it, I must dissent. These 
gentlemen probably deceived themselves by the 
contrasted motion of the leg and arm of the same 
side in walking. But in expressive attitude, 
progression is not our object; and such move- 
ments would be mere contorsion. On the con- 
trary, the human figure, as I have already said, 
consists of two symmetrical sides, which, as they 
are opposite to each other in situation, so they 
ought to be opposed in the actions which they 
perform. 

The contrast which these gentlemen mention, 
is as incomplete as it is ungraceful. It is not 
the leg and arm of the same side that are to be 
contrasted to each other; for that would only be 
partial contrast: it is, on the contrary, the ex- 
tremities of opposite sides that are to be opposed; 
and that, too, in the most perfect manner, so that 
when the arm of one side is advanced, the arm 
of the other is to be withdrawn — when the arm 
of one side is elevated, that of the other is to be 

Sed qusedam in diversa trahant contraria membra, 
Transverseque aliis pugnant, et caetera frangunt. 
Pluribus adversis aversam oppone figuram, 
Pectoribusque humeros, et dextra membra sinistris, 
Seu mitltis constabit opus, paucisve figuris." 



154 



GESTURE. 



depressed; nor are the leg and arm of opposite 
sides by any means to be advanced, or withdrawn 
together, for that, instead of contrast, would be 
correspondence, and instead of graceful attitude, 
would be contorsion. 

It was from this mistake of all principle, that 
Sir Joshua Reynolds was under the necessity of 
making such exceptions to the particular prin- 
ciple which he alluded to, as to render it no 
principle at all. 

He says "the artless uniformity of the old 
Gothic painters is far preferable to this false re- 
finement — this ostentatious display of academic 
art. A greater degree of contrast and variety 
may be allowed in the picturesque or ornamental 
style ; but we must not forget that they are the 
natural enemies of simplicity, and consequently 
of the grand style, and destroy that solemn ma- 
jesty, that soft repose, which is produced in a 
great measure by regularity, and uniformity. " 
It is indeed strange that he was not led to see 
that these rules are utterly incorrect and entirely 
useless. 

The simple principle of elegant contrast in at- 
titude and motion is, that while either of the ex- 
tremities of one side is advanced, both those of 
the other must be withdrawn, and when either 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE. 



155 



of the extremities of one side is elevated, the cor- 
responding one of the other must be depressed, 

The contrast which takes place according to 
this principle is more especially between the 
upper extremities of opposite sides, and between 
the lower extremities of opposite sides, not be- 
tween the upper of one and the lower of the 
other side. For, on the contrary, between the 
last-mentioned extremities, a species of harmony 
exists. When the arm of one side is raised, the 
leg of the other is to be correspondingly elevated ; 
and when the arm of one side is carried before 
the head, the leg of the opposite side is to be 
thrown behind its fellow; and although the 
movement in one is forward, and in the other back- 
ward, yet they perfectly correspond, because the 
greater number of the articulations of the upper 
extremity have an anterior aspect, and those of 
the lower a posterior one — the one extremity as 
naturally bends backward as the other forward, 
and therefore, though the names of these motions 
differ, yet they are perfectly suitable to the con- 
sentaneous elevation of the opposite arm and leg, 
and their corresponding extension is perfectly 
suitable to their consentaneous depression. Thus 
the consentaneous elevation and inflexion, and 
the depression and extension of the opposite arm 



156 



GESTURE. 



and leg, afford a principle of harmonic attitude 
and movement as beautiful as that of contrast 
already mentioned. 

The simple principle, then, of harmony in 
attitude and motion is that the upper extremity 
of one side and the lower of the other must be 
elevated and inflected, and depressed and ex- 
tended together. 

When, on the contrary, the leg and arm of 
one side are elevated together, the equipoise of 
the body is lost; one side of the figure seems to 
be firmly supported, and the other to be, as it 
were, hanging by it; and in consequence of the 
leg of the fixed side being straight, and the arm 
of the same side pendent, the whole of that side 
seems motionless, and the whole of the other in 
action ; the figure appears to have one half alive 
and the other dead, or rather one half paralytic 
and the other in convulsion. The loss of equipoise 
may be remedied, by twisting the trunk of the 
body to the side on which the arm is pendent, 
and of which the leg is straight; but the awk- 
wardness will thereby be increased. There, how- 
ever, remains no mode of remedying the unequal 
distribution of motion. 

In addition to this, I have only at present to 
observe, that the sphere of action of the upper 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE. 157 

extremity is much greater than that of the lower, 
and that although the rules of contrast and har- 
mony in attitude, which I have just stated, 
admit of no exception in their ideal or scientific 
application, yet that, on account of this greater 
sphere of action, the upper extremities are, in all 
the expressions of rapid mental action, or strong 
emotion and passion, to be proportionally more 
elevated than the lower. This produces a good 
effect, because, by throwing its weight upward, 
it lightens the whole figure, and prepares for the 
execution of those rapid motions which the pas- 
sions dictate. 

But although these principles are very gene- 
rally applicable, they are not without exceptions, 
It is obvious that, to the common acts of life, they 
are not intended to apply — the mechanic must 
regulate the motion and attitudes of his limbs, 
not by any theory of ideal beauty, but by the 
form of the machinery which he must actuate, or 
of which he may almost be said to form a portion. 
It is also obvious that, in some of the superior 
circumstances of life, as in the preaching of St. 
Paul, alluded to by Sir Joshua Reynolds, a 
formal attitude is far more correct than the most 
graceful ideal one, because it is more natural to 

p 



i 



158 GESTURE. 

A 

the person who uses it, and, consequently, more 
likely to interest those who are concerned 
in it. 

All this, however, forms no real objection to 
the general rules just delivered. They are rules 
which the orator, the sculptor, and the painter 
ought ever to have in view. It is as proper to 
the saint in prayer equally to elevate the arms to 
heaven, as it is to the shoemaker to throw out 
his elbows in a lateral direction; both of these 
are the acts of their peculiar employments; both 
of them are correct and becoming in their situa- 
tion ; but neither of them afford either exception 
or objection to the principles of ideal elegance 
and grace. 

Whatever authority the rules I have just de- 
livered may seem to stand in need of, I have 
more than sufficient to establish them. J can 
produce, in their support, the happiest remains 
of antiquity. He who examines the Laocoon 
will not, for an instant, hesitate upon the ques- 
tion. In the Laocoon, one side is advanced, 
another is withdrawn ; one arm is elevated, ano- 
ther is depressed. (See Plate XXVIII.) From 
this circumstance, the slightest consideration will 
show that it derives much of its beauty. 

In the Laocoon, the left side is advanced, the 



THE LAO COON 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE. 



159 



right is withdrawn ; the right arm and the left 
leg are extended ; and the left arm and the right 
leg are bent. As, according to the principles 
just announced, the contrast is ideally perfect, 
so is it consummately beautiful. 

In short, the most careless observer, once in 
possession of these principles, will be able to trace 
to them much of the beauty which the admirable 
remains of antiquity possess, and to see that 
some of their occasional defects result from the 
neglect of these principles. 

A friend objects that, " in the Laocoon, the 
attitude is the result of the mere endeavour to 
remove the head as far as possible from the ser- 
pents rising round the limbs, and therefore the 
leg is extended on one side as far as the muscular 
powers will permit, and the body is extended in 
the opposite direction." — But it is enough for the 
preceding principles, that, w T hile the Grecian 
sculptor, by means of the attitude, effects the ex- 
pression here alluded to, that attitude is strikingly 
conformable to the principles here described : the 
extremities diagonally placed, accurately corres- 
pond, and the action is thereby spread over the 
figure. To prevent, however, the slightest doubt 
as to the great sculptor's feeling these principles, 
the elder son, placed on the left hand, has the 

p 2 



160 



GESTURE. 



left arm and right leg most extended, and the 
right arm and left leg most bent; while the 
younger son, on the right, has the same general 
direction of the limbs as the father. 

I have illustrated the Greek procedure upon 
these principles, from the group of the Laocoon, 
because the attitude of every figure is evidently 
constructed upon them. But the remnants of 
Greek sculpture afford innumerable examples of 
the same kind ; as in the Apollo Saurotonos, the 
Borghese Bacchus, the Meleager, the Adonis, &c. 

As principles, the Greeks may not indeed have 
known these, seeing that their writers have not 
described them, and that they have sometimes 
deviated from them ; but it affords the best argu- 
ment in their favour, that, without defining them 
as such, their exquisite taste generally led to 
their adoption. 

The modern Mercury of Giovanni Bologna, to 
which great beauty cannot be denied, appears to 
deviate in some respects from these principles; 
but still the right arm and left leg correspond in 
their extension, while the left arm and right leg 
are bent ; and, as this gives greater reach to the 
figure by all the breadth of the chest (and for 
the purpose of reach we always employ these 
means), it was easily associated with the notion 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE. 



161 



of flight, which the sculptor in tended . — (See Plate 
XXIX, fig. 1.) 

The same taste led the Greeks to violate this 
principle, in general, when they wished to express 
the awkward gesture of a faun or clown. This 
is admirably exemplified in the figure called the 
Clapping Faun, and many others, in which the 
leg and arm of one side are elevated together 
{See Plate XXIX, fig. 2.), precisely as would 
in general be done by any country-fellow in 
attempting to dance. 

It is not a little curious that on this subject 
dancing-masters have espoused the painters' 
academic principle as their rule. 

M. Noverre, speaking of opposition, says that 
" of all the movements executed in dancing, the 
opposition or contrast of the arms to the feet is 
the most natural, and, at the same time, the least 
attended to. Observe, for instance, a number 
of persons walking; you will see that when they 
place the right foot before, the left arm natu- 
rally falls before also, and is thus in opposition 
with it." 

This, says M. Blasis, " appears to me a general 
rule, and from thence it is that skilful dancers 
have acquired the true manner of carrying their 
arms, and forming a constant opposition of them 

p 3 



162 GESTURE. 



with their feet; that is to say, that when the left 
arm is behind, the left leg must be before." 

" Noverre does not, in my opinion, treat of the 
opposition with that clearness and exactness 
which the subject requires: indeed, few writers 
have done so. The obscurity, therefore, that has 
existed on this important particular in dancing, 
has occasioned it to be an object of continual 
controversy among professional dancers. [No 
wonder!] When he says that opposition takes 
place each time that the man or dancer puts one 
leg forward, he means to point out that if such 
foot, so placed before, be the right, the left arm 
must naturally be carried forward at the same in- 
stant, whilst the opposite limbs remain behind. 
This opposition gives the dancer a very graceful 
appearance, as he thereby avoids that uniformity 
of lines in his person so unbecoming a favourite 
of Terpsichore." 

Not contented with these erroneous assertions, 
which apply not to expression, but to the mere 
purpose of progression, M. Blasis proceeds to il- 
lustration. "That particular position," he says, 
which is " technically termed attitude, is the most 
elegant, but at the same time the most difficult 
which dancing comprises. It is, in my opinion, 
a kind of imitation of the attitude so much ad- 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE. 



163 



mired in the Mercury of J. Bologne." And he 
refers to a view which is here copied in Plate 
XXIX, fig, 3, and which effectually proves how 
awkward and ugly such attitude is when not re- 
deemed by the circumstances of the body bending 
to the opposite side, the great reach, and the 
purpose of flight so beautifully expressed by 
Giovanni Bologna. 

Some living and fashionable teachers of dancing 
have gone still further in following the erroneous 
principles laid down by painters; and as this 
can introduce only ludicrous attitudes among 
their pupils, it must here be noticed. 

" All the objects, " says Sir J. Reynolds, the 
originator of the erroneous principles now to be 
noticed, 66 which are exhibited to our view by 
nature, upon close examination will be found to 
have their blemishes and defects. The most 
beautiful forms have something about them like 
weakness, minuteness, or imperfection. But it 
is not every eye that perceives these blemishes. 
It must be an eye long used to the contempla- 
tion and comparison of these forms; and which, 
by a long habit of observing what any set of 
objects of the same kind have in common, has 
acquired the power of discerning what each wants 
in particular, 

" Thus it is from a reiterated experience, and 



164 



GESTURE. 



a close comparison of the objects in nature, that 
an artist becomes possessed of the idea of that 
central form, if I may so express it, from which 
every deviation is deformity. 

Again " Every species of the animal as well as 
the vegetable creation may be said to have a 
fixed determinate form, towards which Nature is 
continually inclining, like various lines termi- 
nating in the centre ; or it may be compared to 
pendulums vibrating in different directions over 
one central point; and as they all cross the cen- 
tre, though only one passes through any other 
point, so it will be found that perfect beauty is 
oftener produced by nature than deformity; I do 
not mean than deformity in general, but than 
any one kind of deformity. To instance in a 
particular part of a feature: the line that forms 
a ridge of the nose is beautiful when it is straight; 
this then is the central form, which is oftener 
found than either concave, convex, or any other 
irregular form that shall be proposed. As we 
are then more accustomed to beauty than de- 
formity, we may conclude that to be the reason 
why we approve and admire it, as we approve 
and admire customs and fashions of dress for no 
other reason than that we are used to them; so 
that though habit and custom cannot be said to 
be the cause of beauty, it is certainly the cause 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE. 



165 



of our liking it; and I have no doubt but that if 
we were more used to deformity than beauty, de- 
formity would then lose the idea now annexed to 
it, and take that of beauty : as if the whole world 
should agree that yes and no should change their 
meaning; yes would then deny, and no would 
affirm. 

And again " From what has been said, it may 
be inferred, that the works of Nature, if we com- 
pare one species with another, are all equally 
beautiful, and that preference is given from cus- 
tom or some association of ideas ; and that, in 
creatures of the same species, beauty is the me- 
dium or centre of all its various forms." 

Now, this medium or central beauty is alto- 
gether without foundation. The beautiful straight 
line, which, in the Greek head, passes from the 
forehead to the tip of the nose, is no medium or 
central beauty, but positively an extreme; very 
few so high, and none higher being to be found ! 
In the same manner, the high ideal forehead and 
great facial angle of the Greeks is an extreme of 
which perhaps not even one instance ever existed 
in nature. 

Instead, then, of beauty being median or cen- 
tral, and dependent on custom, it will generally, 
if not always, be found to be an extreme, which 
is rarely if ever seen, but to which nature, in its 



166 



GESTURE. 



highest perfection, does not the less obviously 
tend. Hence it is found chiefly in the dreams of 
love, and the creations of sculpture and painting. 

Such reflexions, however, are out of the reach 
of the performers of entrechats and pirouettes; 
and accordingly, the teachers alluded to have 
their beauty and grace of motion in a medium of 
flexion and extension. Of one of these teachers, 
the fabricator, if I mistake not, of this nonsense, 
as borrowed by dancing, one of the pupils favours 
me with an account of this medium grace, which 
I here insert. 

" Mr. — 's principles I had from himself, and 
delivered in a manner so quaint that words are 
utterly unequal to describe them ; but I will do 
my best. They are very easily shown to be ab- 
surd. The shoulder-joint has a motion by 
which it carries the arm from the side upwards 
to a horizontal position; the exact medium be- 
tween that and the perpendicular position is 
grace : if the principle be good for anything, 
grace may direct it obliquely upward as well as 
downward.* The joint admits of similar action 
in a horizontal direction from the position first 
described to the front of the body, forming a 
quarter of a circle; the exact medium between 

* If there were any systematic method in this medium 
plan, the horizontal position of the arm should- have been 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE, 



167 



the projection to the side and to the front is grace. 
The arm can be bent at the elbow-joint, so as to 
form a right angle; it can also be straightened; 
the exact medium is grace. f The arm admits of 
supination and pronation ; the exact medium be- 
tween the extremes of each and the quiescent state 
is grace. The wrist can be bent upon the arm al- 
most to a right angle, either inwards or outwards, 
perhaps more accurately forwards or backwards; 
the exact medium between those actions and the 
hand kept in a straight line with the arm, is 
grace. All these medium positions, when com- 
bined, produce an action hardly to be described. 
The arm is raised, and brought forward to an in- 
clination of 45° both from the horizontal and 
lateral positions ; the elbow is bent to a similar 
angle; and the wrist, after pronation to the same 
number of degrees, forms a similar angle with the 
arm. Of course, the antero-posterior, the lateral, 
and the rotatory motion of the head upon the 

regarded as the perfect medium between the direction of 
the arm perpendicularly downward and perpendicularly up- 
ward! The Dancing Master, however, thinks nature's 
medium wrong, and makes a right one of his own ! — T>. W. 

f But from the rectangular position here assumed as an 
extreme ! the forearm can be bent almost into a parallel with 
the arm ; and the acute angle formed between these ought 
also to be grace ! — D. W. 



168 GESTURE. 

neck, of the spinal column upon the pelvis, &c. 
proceed to exactly the same extent ; and grace 
and Mr. — are complete. How this principle is 
to be applied to the legs of ladies, I never could 
exactly comprehend. Opera dancers raise the leg 
from the standing position to a right angle with 
the body; the exact medium, as in the double 
action of the shoulder, should be grace. The leg 
may be straight, or the knee bent to a right 
angle ; the exact medium may be taken, and 
grace assumed only with one leg at a time. The 
rotatory motion of the hip-joint may be exerted 
to the exact medium, bringing the feet to an 
angle of 90° with each other. But the principle 
is not always readily applied. I think an artist 
might draw a graceful figure in defiance of this 
medium principle; and, without a great deal of 
difficulty, might invent a ludicrous figure, in exact 
accordance with it." — This is done in Plate XXX, 
Jigs. 1 and 2, in which a few of Mr. — 's rules 
are scrupulously followed. In fig. 1, the half 
bent knees and half open mouth alone produce 
the graceful crouch of a boy expecting the rod ! 
In fig. 2, a little more complication makes the 
matter still worse ! 

It is not a little curious that the Dancing or 
Clapping Faun, a perfect model of rustic and 
awkward gesture, owes its rusticity and awk- 



PRINCIPLE OF ATTITUDE, 



169 



wardness solely to an accurate adoption, except 
with one leg, of this medium grace ! 

If these teachers of grace would only make a 
few drawings or diagrams in strict conformity 
with their principles — if they would but follow 
the advice of M. Blasis, who says, " I shall con- 
clude this chapter by recommending to your at- 
tention the study of drawing, as almost indis- 
pensable to make a perfect dancer: by drawing, 
you acquire better ideas of symmetry, elegance 
and gracefulness, especially if you pursue the 
beau ideal, which this art possesses;" — if they 
would do this, we should have the fair means of 
judging. M. Blasis himself accordingly gives us, 
in his 1 1th Plate, the two figures accurately copied 
in Plate XXX, figs, 3 and 4, as conforming with 
his notions of grace and the beau ideal. The 
second of these figures he calls an arabesque 
backward; but though that curious position may 
entitle the man to turn the front of his legs back- 
ward, the first figure might have been excused so 
graceful an effort even with one of his legs. Being, 
however, in the same plate with the second, M. 
Blasis was perhaps reluctant that he should be 
altogether outshone in grace, and so he per- 
mitted him to twist one of his legs. — There is 
nothing like drawings to make these things clear ! 

Q 



PART IV. 

APPLICATION OF EXERCISES TO THE 
CONDUCT OF LIFE. 



DEPORTMENT. 

A suitable deportment is the proof of good 
education and habitual sense of order : it heightens 
the value of intellectual attainments, as well as 
constitutes a finish to beauty. As it is intimately 
connected with, or rather a result of, the prece- 
ding exercises, it may without impropriety be 
noticed here. 

Mentioning the points of education for youth, 
Lord Herbert of Cherbury says, " That dancing 
may be learned first, as that which doth fashion 
the body, gives one a good presence in and address 
to all companies, since it disposeth the limbs to 
a kind of souplesse (as the French call it) and 
agility, insomuch as they seem to have the use 
of their legs, arms and bodies, more than any 
others, who standing stiff and stark in their pos- 



DEPORTMENT. 



171 



tures, seem as if they were taken in their joints, 
or had not the perfect use of their members. I 
speak not this yet, as if I would have a youth 
never stand still in company, but only that when 
he hath occasion to stir, his motions may be 
comely and graceful; that he may learn how to 
come in, and go out of a room where company 
is ; how to make curtesies* handsomely, accord- 
ing to the several degrees of persons he shall en- 
counter; how to put off, and hold his hat, all 
which, and many other things which become men, 
are taught by the more accurate dancing masters 
in France. " 

Gallini, a man far superior to dancing-masters 
generally, has written an excellent paper on this 
subject, which I am sure I shall gratify my readers 
by quoting at some length. Had a name distin- 
guished in literature been attached to it, it would 
have been better known. 

"Of how many captivating graces, says he, is 
not the deportment susceptible, where a proper 
care is taken of improving the gifts of nature? 
And in what does a graceful deportment consist, 
but in holding up the head without stiffness, and 
keeping the body upright without affectation? 

* Bows, obeisances, or civilities, from cortesia, civility, 

Q 2 



172 



DEPORTMENT. 



Ease in the various attitudes, a gay, modest, and 
open countenance; a firm assured gait without 
heaviness; light or airy without indecency or 
precipitation; a certain flexibility in the limbs, 
a muscular agility, for the readily taking all the 
characters, or making all the movements requi- 
site for expressing a due regard to one's company ; 
to all these the body of man has from its very in- 
fancy so natural a disposition, that there is 
nothing more than a moderate cultivation need- 
ful to accomplish one in them, joined with a lit- 
tle of habit and attention to keep them up. 

" When once an habit of easy dignity, with an 
unaffected air of portliness, has been sufficiently 
familiarised, it will constantly shew itself in every 
even the most indifferent gesture or action of the 
possessor, and only the more so, for his being 
himself unconscious and insensible of it. Does 
he come into a room? His air immediately strikes 
the company in his favour, and gives a prepos- 
sessing idea to his advantage. He will then have 
nothing to do but to keep up the impression he 
will have made. 

" Should a person even not have been favoured 
by nature with the happiest of figures, it is still 
in his power, if not totally to cure that defect, 
at least, greatly to mend it, by the acquisition of 



DEPORTMENT. 



173 



such a noble or graceful air, as may give all 
possible advantage to his appearance and de- 
meanor, and in some measure atone for the in- 
juries of nature. 

"But how great, how cruel an injustice do 
young gentlemen do to themselves, who, not 
only advantaged by a distinguished birth, but 
withal by a most regular figure, lose, or at least, 
greatly lessen the effect of those advantages by 
a gross and unpardonable neglect of their manner 
of deportment, or gait, or carriage. Some you 
will see with an ignoble slouch ; others distorting 
their neck or body; others turning their toes in- 
ward; some again with an awkward management 
of their limbs, and many with these and other 
defects all at once, not knowing how to walk, to 
sit, to stand, or do any one action of life with 
grace or propriety. Speak to them, they answer 
either with a booby bashfulness, or worse yet, with 
a forward indecent pertness, Ask them to sit 
down, some will just stick themselves on the 
corner of the chair ; others leaning on the back 
of it, as if glewed to it. If a bow is to be made, 
it is with scraping, or with shaking the head, or 
throwing it in your face. Ifacurtesy; theyoung 
untutored lady hangs her head, and makes her 

q 3 



* 



174 DEPORTMENT. 

obeisance with her eyes fixed on the ground, or 
pokes out her head, sticking back her arms, like 
one of the figures in Hogarth's dance. Their 
gait in walking is conformable to all this; disa- 
greeable and unsightly. 

" But if such are the disadvantages of neglected 
improvement in fine and even amiable persons, 
how much must bad be made still worse, where 
the natural defect and imperfections of those to 
whom nature will have been less kind, are left to 
themselves without care or correction. 

"It is then of great moment to inspire a just 
idea of this importance of acquiring a distin- 
guished air and deportment, into the earliest 
youth, at that season of life, when they seize 
every lesson with the greatest vivacity, and when 
every lesson makes the strongest and most dura- 
ble impression on their tender minds. Then it is 
that, in the very dawn of their reason, which it 
is so indispensable a duty for those who have 
the care of their education, to watch and to im- 
prove, not only in this but in other points, it will 
be expedient to apply to that innate pride, which 
by giving to it a proper direction, and by fixing it 
on great or noble objects, becomes even a virtue. 

"Nor can it well be called an exaggeration, 



DEPORTMENT. 



175 



or a partiality to ray profession, to reckon among 
the noble objects of education, that of not only 
putting a youth into the way of giving the utmost 
value to his personal figure, by the improvement of 
his air and deportment; but by inculcating to 
him so useful a truth, as that even an opinion 
of the elevation of the understanding, is in a 
great measure regulated by the appearance, or 
exterior air and carriage of the person. To whom 
can it be unknown that all that power of gesture, 
which Demosthenes considered as the principal 
point in oratory, principally depends on the 
acquisition of a proper air, and command ingn ess 
of aspect, combined with a propriety of gesture, 
and action ? How justly does La Bruyere observe, 
that a fool cannot sit down like a man of sense? 

u It will certainly not give the sense, the 
knowledge which constitute the orator, therefore 
in that light it can be of no service to a pretender 
to oratory; but where sense and knowledge 
really exist, it will greatly increase his powers 
and efficacy in the production of them to his 
audience. 

" And even when persons, either from a natural 
incapacity, or from want of sufficient study, con- 
fine themselves to silence, without pretensions to 
speak, their defects receive a most friendly and 



176 



DEPORTMENT. 



desirable cover from that air of politeness, of pro- 
priety of demeanor, which even dignifies silence, 
and does justice to the motives of it, when they 
are founded upon a modest consciousness of in- 
sufficiency for attempts at oratory; an insuffici- 
ency which not unfrequently goes with an excel- 
lent understanding. Nay this very air and de- 
meanor, for the importance of the acquisition of 
which I am contending, has often made a silence 
owing to incapacity, suspected of higher motives, 
and rather of an excess of reserve and discretion, 
than of a defect of abilities. 

" I have precedently observed, that youth, 
from its flexibility, its readiness to receive and 
retain the habits contracted in that happy age, is 
the fittest season for instruction of all kinds. 
And surely while nothing can be a truer axiom, 
than that a good habit is more easily to be con- 
tracted than a bad one, must it not be rather a 
cruel neglect, to lapse that time, that perhaps 
irretrievable time, without the requisite cultiva- 
tion and improvement of it? Then it is that na- 
ture being the most susceptible of the adventi- 
tious perfection of art, maybe said to invoke its 
aid, to form an accomplished total: for nature 
can only give graces, but it is art that gives grace 
itself. 



DEPORTMENT. 



177 



" It is then hardly possible to recommend too 
much the power of this art, to assist youth hi 
forming such a noble and distinguishing air and 
deportment, as will give them that ever valuable 
advantage of favourable impressions, at the first 
sight, a prejudice not easily to be cancelled ; but 
the means to preserve those impressions by a con- 
tinuance of that winning air and manner which 
will have at the first made them ; an air, that as 
1 have before observed, often renders even silence 
eloquent; an air that always implies an excellent 
education, and sometimes supposes a natural 
elevation of mind, even where it does not always 
exist; though without it, such an air is rarely 
indeed attainable to any degree of perfection. 
It never fails of raising to all appearance medi- 
ocrity many degrees above its real standard of 
merit. And who does not know the force and 
importance of appearances ? 

" This air always so valuable, and on many 
occasions in life, of such infinite service to the 
possessor, can never be the produce of a moment : 
but, to be effectual, must be habitual. It must 
have been acquired by instruction, by observa- 
tion, and especially by keeping the best company, 
among which it is constantly practised. A per- 
son unused to it, would, in vain, try to put it on, 



178 



DEPORTMENT. 



for any particular occasion. The novelty of it to him 
would sit awkward upon him, and the temporary 
affectation be too gross to pass. It would be in- 
stantlyseen through, and the stiffness with strain- 
ing for it be even ridiculous. The grace of ease 
can never be acted, it musthave stolen into second 
and better nature in virtue of a habit, contracted 
not to destroy the first nature, but only to im- 
prove and embellish it. Thus the polishing gold 
does not injure the colour, but adds lustre to it. 
A person who has once got this habit of a noble, 
decent, graceful air, needs be in no fear of losing 
it, if he takes but the least care to keep it up. 
The difficulty for him would be not to shew it in 
his every action and gesture. He will then be 
at the happy point of that advantage being as 
natural to him, as the contrary defect will be to 
those who shall have neglected to acquire it. 

" It will also be the first quality, as being an 
external one, that will strike the more immedi- 
ately, those who see him. It will be to them 
precisely what a great mass of light is in a 
painting, which at the first glance over it com- 
mands the eye from attention to the shades of it. 
Whereas, in the case of an awkward, clumsy, 
ungenteel air, its disagreeable effect is like that 
of a distorted limb, or a false attitude, in the 



DEPORTMENT. 179 

painting of a human figure, which strikes alike 
the connoisseurs, and the ignorant, who judge 
of nature from nature itself. 

"There is then nothing, which regards the 
personal exterior, that ought to be more guarded 
against than a bad habit. The unconsciousness 
of it being in most people, the reason for their 
not trying to get rid of it, those can never be 
the true friends, or the proper directors of youth, 
who do not make them sensible of their interest 
in attending to this point. Many, indeed, blinded 
by partiality, do not see the fault in such as are 
dear to them, and are consequently the authors 
or causes of a neglect they will have often occa- 
sion to repent, a prepossessing exterior being 
one of the master-keys to the human heart. 

" Nor is the instruction proper for forming 
the air or carriage, confined to the limbs and 
body. The looks of a person make an essential 
part, as they give life and soul to the whole ; 
they are to the whole what the sun is to a rich 
landscape of Claude Lorraine, where its effects 
declare the presence of a luminary beyond the 
reach of expression in painting. A modest grace- 
ful look, with ease in the manner of carriage, 
irresistibly captivates. Even in the greatest 
passions, in the greatest sallies of vivacity, that 

6 



180 



DEPORTMENT. 



decency of look, that grace of ease, should never 
abandon us in our actions or speech. 

" It is also remarkable, that the habitual tenor 
of this elegant air, this dignity of port being 
once framed, it enforces all that is said, with 
much more weight than an occasional vehemence 
of tone or gesture, by fits and starts, which 
betrays too much of passion not to beget in 
others prejudice or indisposition ; whereas, an 
elegance of deportment, always supposing edu- 
cation, carries also with it more of the air and 
authority of reason. In the one, oratory is too 
theatrical, in the other, it is more in the cha- 
racter of a statesman, master of his subject and 
of himself. Thus a great and sublime sentiment, 
delivered with the flow of ease, and with the 
grace of gesture, especially without the appear- 
ance of any affectation, or consciousness of pro- 
ducing any thing extraordinary, makes a ten 
times greater impression than when the same 
sentiment is flung at the head of the hearers, 
with violent contortions, and straining for a 
pathos which never comes to those who strain 
for it, but in a form that oftener produces deri- 
sion than admiration. 

" Neither must that air, the acquisition of 



DEPORTMENT. 



181 



which I am recommending, ever appear to be 
the effect of study; the beauty, the energy of it, 
is to seem something innate, and not acquired. 
The whole grace of it vanishes, when it is per- 
ceived to be an art. It must have been insen- 
sibly melted into the whole frame and behaviour ; 
a natural, not an adscititious advantage. 

" But the great and indispensable preliminary 
to the teaching a good air, must be the cure of 
such defects as go to the forming a bad one, 
Even such as are naturally incurable, may, like 
those bodily disorders which do not admit of a 
thorough extirpation, be susceptible at least of 
mitigation and amendment, a low stature, a wry 
shape, a prominent back, splay or bandy-legs, 
which no art can well redress, may still be ren- 
dered more tolerable or less disagreeable by 
accompanying advantages of improvement of the 
air and manner. The very worst of figures may 
be presented in less unfavourable lights; a point 
this, which it is much for their interest to con- 
sult: with this farther most just and most salu- 
tary advertence, that with great superiority to 
those graces to be acquired by good breeding, 
the charms of the understanding and the virtue 
of the heart will ever have a signal influence 
even over the exterior itself, through which it 

R 



182 DEPORTMENT. 

will not only be sensibly diffused, but carry with 
it also that ever desirable power of so much pre- 
possessing others in its favour, as to absorb all 
the attention to the figure itself. 

" The defects, which with attention and care 
are absolutely not incurable, are of two kinds, 
derived from nature, or contracted by habit. 

" As to those defects proceeding from nature; 
as for example, a harsh, sour, lowering counte- 
nance, a proud insolent air, of which the pos- 
sessor may be perfectly unconscious ; the friendly 
part to him would be to make him, without 
stiffening him in such an air by offensively 
remarking it to him, sensible of the disadvantage 
of it to his own happiness, and to the interest 
he has in being pleasing to society. If such a 
countenance, or air, proceeds from a bad heart, 
or a constitutional depravity of the mind, the 
cure will be the more difficult. Otherwise, as 
upon conviction, the change from bad to good, 
is an instinctive inclination of nature, it would 
not even be very difficult, to give a new cast to 
the looks, a new disposition to the air, gait and 
carriage, by recommending proper models of 
imitation, by shewing the possibility and means 
of habitually throwing into the looks a more 
placid serenity and into the air and deportment 



DEPORTMENT. 



183 



a more modest and engaging manner: when in- 
dependently of the lessons of art, nothing will 
have more efficacy than inculcating' the neces- 
sity of politeness; not that hollow unmeaning 
common-place politeness, the affectation and 
disguise from which are so much in vain, since 
they are presently seen through, or felt, but that 
genuine and truly amiable politeness of the 
heart, which gives grace to every gesture, and 
irresistible charms to every word or action. 

" As for the defects merely from bad habits, 
their cure is precisely like that of other bodily 
disorders, by contraries : and that not by offering 
sudden violence to them, but bv gentle degrees 
of eradication. 

" Nothing is more frequent than for persons to 
have contracted some particular hauk of gesture, 
of holding or managing the hands, of sticking 
out the elbows, of, in short, some untoward or 
ungraceful attitude, grown by use into second 
nature, and sometimes even by mere dint of 
mimickry. 

" There are some faults too, of which the cause 
is so amiable, and, abstracted from them, so 
pleasing, that they the more require the teacher's 
lessons of guarding against them, or of removing 
them where the habit of them is already con- 

r 2 



184 



DEPORTMENT. 



tracted: such, for example, as the too common 
practice of some young ladies, who purely from 
a natural disposition to cheerfulness and gaiety, 
and without any the least thought of ill-nature, 
of censoriousness, or designed offence, will, 
when a stranger comes into a room, clustering 
and laying their heads together, keep tittering 
and laughing; which not only distresses the new 
comer, but gives to themselves an air of levity 
and under-breeding, which robs them of their 
greatest graces of delicacy and politeness. 

" In all cases, then, of disagreeable habit, a 
teacher's duty is to inculcate strenuously the 
necessity of getting the better of that recurring 
propensity, by a sedulous attention to the avoid- 
ing it, and by recovering the liberty of nature, 
to give that graceful ease and flowingness of 
movements and gesture, which bestow on the 
person the greatest advantage of which it is 
susceptible. 

" But as every different scholar requires in 
some degree different lessons, according to their 
peculiar turn or dispositions, it is evidently 
impossible to convey, by writing, such general 
instructions as would be of use to the public. 
Practice, personal observation, and the lessons 
not only of the teachers of this art, but the ad- 



DEPORTMENT. 



185 



vice of such parents and guardians of youth as 
are themselves masters of good breeding and 
knowledge of the polite world, must be the best 
means of forming the objects of their care and 
tuition to that desirable point of perfection in 
especially what relates to the Air or Port of the 
Person, of which one of our celebrated poets had 
so high a conception, that he said it might of 
itself stand for a patrimony. 

" Patrimonio assai grande 
E un costume gen til." 

We are now naturally led to ask where guid- 
ance or models of deportment may be best found. 

"Good company/* says Duclos, "resembles a 
dispersed republic ; the members of it are found 
in all classes: independent of rank and station, 
it exists only amongst those who think and feel, 
amongst those who possess correct ideas and 
honourable sentiments."* 

The highest classes, constantly occupied with 

* " La bonne compagnie ressemble a une republique 
dispersee ; on en trouve des membres dans toutes sortes de 
classes: independante de l'etat etdu rang, elle ne se trouve 
que parmi ceux qui pensent et qui sentent, qui ont les idees 
justes et les sentimens honnetes." 

R 3 



186 



DEPORTMENT. 



the absorbing interests of wealth and ambition, 
formerly introduced into their magnificent salons, 
a grave and almost diplomatic stiffness of man- 
ners, of which the solemnity banished nature and 
freedom. The amusements of the lowest classes, 
which rather resemble a toil than a recreation, 
present to the spectator a procedure irreconcilable 
to good taste. 

There are, moreover, too many points of resem- 
blance between the manners and education of the 
higher and lower classes, to admit of our finding 
the elements of good society in either of them. 
The lower orders are ignorant from want of means 
of instruction; the higher, from indolence and 
perpetually increasing incapacity. 

It is, besides, not a little curious that, even in 
the bygone days of ceremonious manners, the 
higher classes, by whom they were practised, 
were uniformly taught them by those illiterate 
persons of the lower classes who almost alone 
practise the art of dancing-masters. 

It is, therefore, to the middle class almost ex- 
clusively that we must look for good society; to 
that class, which, enjoying the aureamediocritas 
of Horace, has not its ideas contracted by labo- 
rious occupations, nor its mental powers annihi- 
lated by luxury. 



DEPORTMENT. 



187 



In this class, it is truly observed, society is 
often full of charm : every one seems, according 
to the precept of La Bruyere, " anxious both by 
words and manners to make others pleased with 
him and with themselves. " There are slight 
differences of character, opinion and interest, 
but there is no prevailing style, no singular or 
affected customs. An unperceived interchange 
of ideas and kind offices produces a delightful 
harmony of thoughts and sentiments ; and the 
wish to please inspires those affectionate manners, 
those obliging expressions, and those sustained 
attentions, which alone render social unions plea- 
sant and desirable. 

Throughout Europe, the different states of 
society were contained within distinct limits 
during the last century; each condition had its 
peculiar character ; and affectation of the customs 
peculiar to each class, or the attempt to imitate 
the manners of another class, opened a wide field 
to the observer. The courtier and the tradesman 
were men differing in dress, manners, mode of 
life and language: in some respects, they were 
scarcely fellow-countrymen. The periods of life 
were also marked by a particular costume: 
youth, middle age, and old age had their peculiar 
part, manners, occupations and pleasures. It 



188 



DEPORT ME XT. 



was these very distinctions which ensured those 
ceremonious manners which never exist among 
persons who live in a state of equality. 

Oversight of this truth alone could have led the 
aristocracy of this country to adopt the exclusive 
system which has long distinguished them. Those 
who have had opportunities of knowing them in- 
timately have observed all that was formerly de- 
nominated polite manners gradually disappear 
from among them, and give place, as must ever 
be the case among equals, to a somewhat more 
abrupt and coarser familiarity. Hence few models 
of what was formerly termed polite manners can 
be found among them . Nor does it seem possible 
to restore the condition of society in which these 
formerly flourished ; the spell has been broken ; 
and fancy fairs, fetes al fresco, &c. have been 
resorted to in vain. 

In these days, the middle class is more 
enlarged and powerful; marriages and want of 
money have brought all classes nearer to each 
other; position in society depends somewhat more 
upon merit; and the courtier has lost his power. 

In this, there is certainly one advantage. 
Politeness has ceased to consist of those arbitrary 
forms which any one class could inflict upon the 
rest; and natural politeness, which is as invari- 



DEPORTMENT. 



189 



able as those principles of human nature out of 
which it arises, has taken their place. 

Natural politeness is particularly agreeable; 
there is nothing stiff or constrained in it, and it 
has all the charm of good nature. The arbitrary 
politeness of affected people is ceremonious, ex- 
aggerated and troublesome. From this, we are 
for ever rescued by the great change which has 
taken place in society, as well as from those 
ridiculous or contemptible secrets of politeness 
which were known only to the initiated, and of 
which I will now give a specimen from a French 
writer who does not yet see that such things are 
mere provincialities (for so they must be called in 
relation to the great theatre of the world) — trifles 
now felt to be beneath contempt — impertinences 
which are banished for ever. — But, to the speci- 
men, 

" All the intellect in the world, (says this writer,) 
will not do as a substitute for the knowledge of those 
delicate manners in society which are established 
by custom. Men of intellect, and even of genius, 
have often conducted themselves in society like 
ill-bred children : one example will suffice as 
proof of this. 

# " The Abbe Cosson, professor of belles lettres at 
the College Mazarin, a perfect paragon in the art 



190 



DEPORTMENT. 



of teaching, overflowing with Latin, Greek and 
literature, thought himself a fount tin of science ; 
he imagined it impossible that a man familiar with 
Persius and Horace could commit any breach of 
established rules, especially at table : but he was 
not long suffered to remain in this pleasing state 
of ignorance. One day he had been dining at 
Versailles with the Abbe Radonvillers, in com- 
pany with several courtiers, blue ribbons, and 
marshals of France. He was afterwards boast- 
ing of having displayed a rare knowledge of 
etiquette and established forms. The Abbe 
Delille, who was present at this discourse, offered 
to wager that he had committed a hundred incon- 
gruities. ' Impossible (said the AbbeCosson;) 
I did as all the rest did.' — ' What presumption ! 
(replied Delille ;) I will show you that you did 
nothing like any body else. We will confine 
ourselves to the dinner : first of all, what did you 
do with your napkin on taking your seat at the 
table?' — 'What did I do with my napkin ! what 
every body else did : I opened it, spread it on 
my breast, and fastened it by one corner to my 
button hole/ — 'Alas ! my good fellow, you were 
the only one that did so : gentlemen do not make 
a display of the napkin; they leave it upon their 
knees. And pray how did you eat your soup V — 

6 



DEPORTMENT. 



191 



'As every one else did, I believe. I took my 
spoon in one hand, and my fork in the other/ — 
'A fork ! good God, nobody eats soup with a fork; 
— but proceed. What did you take after soup V — 
'A new laid egg.' — 'And what did you do with the 
shell V — 'What every one else did ; I left it for the 
servant that waited/ — ' Without breaking it?' — 
'Yes/ — 'My poor friend, no one eats an egg with- 
out breaking the shell. And after your egg V — ' I 
asked for some bouilli/ — ' Bouilli! nobody makes 
use of such an expression ; people ask for beef. 
And then V — ' I asked the abbe Radonvillers 
to send me a portion of a very fine fowl/ — 'A fine 
fowl ! unfortunate man ! people ask for a pullet, 
a capon, or a chicken; the word fowl is never 
heard but in the servants' hall. But you have 
not told me how you asked for drink/ — 'Like the 
rest of the company ; I asked for Bourdeaux and 
Champagne, of those who were near the decan- 
ters.' — 'Recollect then, that people ask for Bour- 
deaux wine, and Champagne wine. But tell me, 
how did you eat your bread V — 'Of course as every 
one else did; I cut it with my knife/ — ' Dreadful ! 
people break their bread; they do not cut it. 
Dut to proceed; you took coffee?' — 'Yes, like the 
rest. It was very hot, and I poured it out in 
small quantities from the cup into the saucer/ — 
' Well, my good fellow, you certainly were singular 



192 



DEPORTMENT. 



in that respect ; people drink coffee from a cup, 
no one ever thinks of pouring it into a saucer. 
You see, my dear Cosson, you have not said a 
word, or made a single movement, without a vio- 
lation of the established custom.' The good 
professor was thunderstruck. He found out that 
Latin and Greek are not sufficient, and that a 
man of the world must obtain other acquirement*, 
which, if not so important, are not less useful."* 

* " Tout Pesprit du raonde ne saurait suppleer a la con- 
naissance des dedicates theories consacrees par Pusage. Des 
homines pleins de talens, de genie meme, se sont sotivent 
conduits dans le monde comme des enfans mal eleves : un 
seul exemple suffira pour en donner la preuve. 

" L'abbe Cosson, professeur de belles-lettres au college de 
Mazarin, consomme dans Part de l'enseignement, sature de 
Latin, de Grec et de litterature, se croyait un puits de science ; 
il imaginat qu'un homme familier avec Perse et Horace ne 
pouvait faire de balourdise, a table surtout : il dut bien revenir 
de ce ridicule prejuge. Un jour il avait dine a Versailles 
chez Pabbe de Radonvillers, en compagnie de gens de cour, 
de cordons-bleus, de marecbaux de France. II se vantait 
d'avoir deploye une rare connaissance de l'etiquette des 
usages recus. L'abbe Delille, present a ce discours, paria 
qu'il avait fait cent incongruites. 1 Comment done ! s'ecria 
Pabbe Cosson; j'ai fait comme tout le monde. — Quelle pre- 
somption ! reprit Delille ; vous allez voir que vous n'avez 
rien fait comme personne. Mais ne parlons que du diner. 
D'abord, que fites-vous de votre serviette en vous mettant 
a table? — De ma serviette? je fis comme tout le monde : je 
la deployai, je l'etendis sur moi, et l'attachai par un coin a 
ma boutonniere. — Eh bien ! mon cher, vous etes le seul qui 



DEPORTMENT. 



193 



Now, common sense would point out to a 
docile man in any country the impropriety of 
spreading a napkin over his person at' dinner, 
because it is a declaration of dirtiness to be com- 
mitted by him, and to be contemplated by the 
rest of the company; — and so of eating soup 
with a fork, of cutting the bread before him in- 
stead of breaking it, and of pouring coffee or tea 
into a saucer. B ut whether he break an egg-shell 

ayez fait cela. On n'etale pas sa serviette, on se contente 
de la mettre sur ses genoux. Et comment fites-vous pour 
manger la soupe ? — Comme tout le monde, je pense. Je 
pris ma cuiller d'une main et ma fourchette de Pautre... 
Votre fourchette, bon Dieu ! personne neprend de fourchette 
pour manger la soupe. Mais poursuivoDs. Apres votre 

soupe, que mangeates-vous 1 — Un ceuf frais Et que fites- 

vous de la coquille ? — Comme tout le monde, je la laissai au 
laquais qui me servait. — Sans la casser "-—Sans la casser. — 
Eh bien ! mon cher, on ne mange jamais un ceuf sansbriser 
la coquille. Et apres votre ceuf? — Je demandai du bow IK. 
— Du bouilli : personne ne se sert de cette expression ; on 
demande du bceuf. £t ensuite — Je priai Pabbe de 
Radonvillers de m'envoyer d'une tres-belle volaille. — Mal- 
heureux ! de la volaille ! on demande du poulet ! du chapon, 
de la poularde ; on ne parle de la volaille qu'a la basse- cour. 
Mais vous ne me dites rien de votre maniere de demander a 
boire. — J'ai, comme tout le monde, demande du Bordeaux 
du Champagne, aux personnes qui en avaient devant elles. — 
Sachez qu'on demande du vin de Champagne, du vin de Bor_ 
deaux. Mais dites-moi quelque chose de la maniere dont vous 
mangeates votre pain. — Certainement a la maniere de tout 

S 



194 



DEPORTM ENT. 



or leave it entire, whether he ask for boiled meat 
or beef, for fowl or pullet, for Bordeaux or Bor- 
deaux wine, deserves a moment's consideration 
only from an imbecile. These things are the 
little contrivances of cunning idiots, a numerous 
class, who, lacking all real knowledge, think thus 
to distinguish themselves ; they differ in every 
province or parish ; and a man of the smallest 
intellect would be disgraced by knowing them. 

A dignified and graceful deportment, equally 
removed from frivolity and affectation, appears 
at first so simple, easy and natural, that it seems 
impertinent to lay down rules for it. The man- 
ners and style, moreover, of good society can 
never be acquired from books. There are, how- 
ever, a few rules (subject to many exceptions and 
variations, without the slightest discredit either to 

le monde : je le coupai proprement avec mon couteau... — 
Ah ! Pon rompt son pain, on ne le coupe pas. Avan£ons : 
le cafe, vous le prites?— Oh ! pour le coup, comme tout le 
monde. II etait bmlant, je le versai par petites parties de ma 
tasse dans ma soucoupe. — Et bien ! vous fites comme ne 
fit certainement personne. Tout le monde boit son cafe dans 
sa tasse, on ne le verse jamais dans la soucoupe. Vous 
voyez, mon cher Cosson, que vous n'avez pas dit un mot, 
pas fait un mouvement qui ne flit contre Tusage.' Le 
brave professeur resta confondu. II comprit que le Latin et 
le Grec nesuffisentpas,etquePhomme du monde doit encore 
rechercher d'autres connaissances qui, pour etre moins se- 
veres, ne sont pas moins utiles. " 



DEPORTMENT. 



195 



nations or individuals, except from the cunning- 
idiots described above,) which may be termed its 
more material conditions. It then remains for 
every one by moral disposition and by natural 
grace to supply the last finish. 

Common sense tells us that if a friend return 
from a far journey, or after a long absence, we 
should pay the first and earliest visit; and that, 
in other cases, we should punctually return visits 
paid to us, unless we desire to avoid the society 
of those who have visited us. 

In a visit of ceremony during winter, ladies 
properly quit their cloak in an antichamber, 
however splendid it may be. The bonnet and 
shawl, in a similar case, they as properly retain; 
and indeed, except when visiting an intimate 
friend, it is evident that they should not take these 
off, unless at the express invitation of the lady 
visited, or after requesting permission. 

Where suitable accommodation exists, the lady 
visiting is duly announced; and, in any case, it 
is evident that to enter a room without being in 
some way announced, is barbarous. If there is 
no one to introduce the lady, she knocks gently, 
and waits a few seconds before opening the door, 
unless told to walk in. She may thus frequently 
avoid embarrassing situations. 

s 2 



196 



DEPORTMENT. 



There are various modes of saluting: and, in 
accordance with the relation of the parties, the 
salutation will naturally be respectful, warm, 
polite, affectionate, or familiar. 

The curtsey,* to ensure ease and grace in the 
inevitably complex motions of the limbs, is per- 
formed as follows: — When walking, the lady 
stops in such a manner that the weight of the 
body may rest upon the limb which is advanced. 
Then, moving the foot which is behind from the 
fourth hinder position, she causes it to assume 
successively the third and the second. — (See 
Plate XXXI, Jig. 1.) Having arrived at the 
latter, she shifts the weight of the body upon the 
leg forming it, brings the other into the third 
position behind, and, inclining the body slightly 
forward, passes it immediately into the fourth 
behind. Preserving still the weight on the ad- 
vanced leg, the knees must now bend, and the 
head and body further incline, and gently sink, 
to complete the curtsey. — (See Plate XXXI, 
Jig. 2.) While rising, the weight is transferred 
to the foot behind (See Plate XXXI, Jig. 3), 
and the advanced foot is gradually brought into 
the fourth position. The arms should be grace- 

* A slight lowering of the person, as a mark of respect, 
seems natural enough, and is observed among most nations. 



DEPORTMENT. 



197 



fully bent, and the hands occupied in lightly 
holding out the dress. In walking, after the 
curtsey, the first step is made with the foot which 
happens to be forward at its completion. 

A slighter form of the curtsey, more applicable 
to passing onward after it is made, is performed 
while walking, by bringing the foot of the side 
next to the person curtseyed to in advance at 
the moment of passing, throwing the weight upon 
it, turning the head as the person passes, bending 
the knees, inclining the head and body at the 
same time (See Plate XXXII, Jig, 1), and then 
throwing, in the rise, the weight on the foot behind, 
and continuing the walk either by means of the 
foot which is advanced, or of that which is 
not so. * 

A still lighter and gayer form is to make, at 
the moment of passing, a slight hop on the foot 
furthest from the person curtseyed to, as the 
nearer one passes forward (See Plate XXXII, 
fig, 2), and then, keeping straight the nearer or 
advanced limb, which principally supports the 
weight, and turning the head as the person passes, 
to incline the body from the hips forward, and 
toward that person. 

In entering a room where there are a number 
of persons, a lady, glancing round the room, na- 

s 3 



198 



DEPORTMENT. 



turally salutes them all at once with a more or 
less formal curtsey, and addresses herself espe- 
cially to the lady of the house. This being done, 
she joins the company, and takes the first oppor- 
tunity of joining also the conversation. 

In the introduction of a person entering a 
room, the person entering is naturally first named, 
and next the person to whom the introduction is 
made, and the curtsey is reciprocal. In an ac- 
cidental meeting, it is similarly the new comer 
who is first named to the larger party, and then, 
if necessary, each of the latter in succession. 

In France, where less deference is paid to rank 
than in England, in the case of a dinner-party, 
when dinner is announced, the mistress or the 
master of the house gets up, invites the company 
to follow to the dining-room, and sets them the 
example by passing out first. In this case, no 
one rises before the mistress or master of the 
house, and every gentleman offers his arm to a 
lady, to conduct her to the place where she is 
to sit. 

A French writer accuses the English of " the 
base sycophancy of insulting age the most vene- 
rable, and genius the most admirable, by giving 
precedence at table to titled idiotcy," &c. &c. 
He is wrong : this was indeed once found here, 



DEPORTMENT. 



199 



as it now is in Germany ; but the liberal and 
benevolent spirit of the age has banished such 
stupidities, and they are now chiefly to be seen 
among the cunning idiots mentioned above, or 
among vulgar upstarts, where their practice is the 
object of scarcely restrained laughter to enlight- 
ened persons. 

In accepting a gentleman's arm, the lady 
usually passes her hand and wrist within the 
gentleman's forearm; but this junction of arms 
seems to me too complex and intimate for so 
short a journey, and it seems easier and more 
suitable for the lady to place her hand exteriorly 
upon the gentleman's wrist, which on his part it 
is certainly not less respectful properly to present. 
In ascending or descending stairs, she takes the 
side on which the steps are most regular and con- 
venient.— (See Plate XXXII, fig. 3.) 

In sitting, the position of the limbs has con- 
siderable influence on the beauty of the figure. 

The knees are generally left one by the other, 
scarcely separated. Though they should not be 
turned in, it is highly improper to turn them out 
in too marked a manner. It is scarcely neces- 
sary to say, that to cross them one over the other, 
and to embrace them with the hands joined, is 
deemed vulgar. 



200 



DEPORTMENT. 



To stretch out the legs while sitting, announces 
conceit and pride; and to bend them up, gives 
a timid and frightened air. 

When a lady is sitting, she generally keeps 
the feet but little apart, or even crossed one over 
the other, the right perhaps over the left, reclining 
on the toe and side, which certainly does not give 
to the foot the appearance of being less small 
and elegant. She in general also lowers the 
gown and covers the heel, so as to show little 
more than half the foot. 

The position of the arms requires attention. 
The general positions for the arms are about 
the level of the waist, never hanging down or 
being quite stiff, but being gently bent, the 
elbow a little raised, the ringers not stretched out 
stiffly, but also a little bent, and partially sepa- 
rated, or the hands half crossed one over the 
other, or placed in each other, &c. But every 
one will vary all these positions from time to 
time, as stiffness destroys all elegance and grace. 

Several positions of the arms are vulgar: 
amongst others, the custom of spreading the 
hands separated upon the knees; that of leaning 
forward and placing the arms upon the thighs; 
and that of crossing them so as to place the elbows 
in the opposite hands. That of throwing them 



DEPORTMENT. 



201 



back too much, and keeping them close to the 
side, which is termed grasshopper-fashion, because 
the arms thus trussed bear no little resemblance 
to the elytra of the large green grasshopper when 
in a state of repose, is a mark of affectation, and 
is generally connected with prudery and conceit. 

As to the body, the shoulders and chest are 
kept in position at the same time, but not at the 
expense of each other. This is effected by straight- 
ening the back naturally, and keeping the neck 
in a good position. 

The movements of the body, such as quarter- 
turns and half-turns, should be as natural and 
as easy as the involuntary motion of the eyelids. 
A lady who turns stiffly, or, as they vulgarly say, 
all of a piece, is like the automaton, which moves 
only by a spring. 

The position of the neck is of importance, 
as, from its intermediate place, it influences 
both the figure and the face. The neck in- 
clining forward makes the back round, makes 
the chin pointed, and gives the whole figure an 
appearance of embarrassment. Leaning back- 
wards, it swells in front, throws back the head in 
a ridiculous manner, and fatigues the sight by its 
constrained attitude. Quite straight, it wants ele- 
gance. It is, therefore, generally inclined a little 



202 



DEPORTMENT. 



to one side, by a gentle and almost imperceptible 
movement, which gives it a softer character, and 
a more feminine expression; but it is thus apt to 
acquire the character of affectation. 

Grace and ease of attitude greatly increase 
the beauty of all parts of the body; whilst awk- 
wardness and stiffness so diminish it as to destroy 
its value; and affectation, pretension, or negli- 
gence render it offensive. 

The expression of the face should be under 
control in all cases. Attention, astonishment, 
surprise, joy, and admiration, carried to an excess, 
are as unpleasant as great egotism, sorrow, fear, 
or insolence. The play of the countenance should 
be very marked on the stage to give force to 
the dialogue, and interest to the scene repre- 
sented; but this should not be the case in society, 
where we should always preserve a certain dig- 
nified respect for ourselves and for the company. 

In relation to conversation, as most people 
go into society in the evening to relieve them- 
selves from the pursuits of the morning, it is not 
proper to talk to any one upon the subject of his 
daily occupation. Thus we do not talk politics 
with an editor, law with a barrister, or medicine 
with a doctor. 

It is necessary, if we go into society, to keep 



DEPORTMENT. 



203 



up a knowledge of what is going forward in the 
world; for, without this, conversation is impossible. 

The conversation and even the tone of the voice 
should be always in accordance with the circum- 
stances under which the visit is paid. 

In all mixed companies, it is wise to avoid 
remarks condemnatory of classes and professions, 
doctors, lawyers, or clergymen; and it is prudent 
to learn enough of the immediate connexions of 
persons present, to avoid giving pain. 

Scandal was formerly the disgrace of English 
society: it is now felt to be base and detestable. 
Even satire, sneering, and mimicry are most un- 
ladylike qualifications. 

Very animated conversation, a loud voice, 
immoderate laughter, and everything which dis- 
turbs the repose and harmony of the features, 
disturbs propriety and deteriorates beauty. 

In relation to the management of dress in 
society, it may be observed that if the fire in- 
commodes, a lady may, without impropriety, hold 
at a distance from the face a handkerchief or 
reticule; but it would be ridiculous to endeavour 
to protect clothes from the action of the fire by 
raising them up, doubling them back, or spread- 
ing a handkerchief over the dress. 

It is also vulgar to be conspicuously careful 
of things which have been taken off, and impo- 



204 



IiEPORTMENT. 



lite to manifest regret for any accident that may 
have befallen dress, such as spots, rents, burns. 
Good manners require that ladies should pay no 
attention to these, because that would give use- 
less pain to others, and should hasten to turn 
the conversation to some other subject, thanking 
the mistress of the house for the anxiety she may 
manifest upon the subject. 

Every one has often seen stiff country ladies 
in full dress fold up their shawl square, put down 
the bonnet with care, take it up again, and replace 
it so as to be assured that no contact can rumple 
the trimming. Every one has seen them at table 
spread out and then affectedly double back their 
gown, spread out the napkin with conspicuous 
care, and recommend to the servants to be care- 
ful in serving. Every one has seen them, with 
troubled look, following the plate which passes 
over their shoulders, push back the chair when 
their neighbour is going to carve, and redouble 
their anxiety when the champagne froths up close 
by them. 

These spectacles are by no means rare: they 
make us laugh, and speedily turn away the eyes, 
to fix them with pleasure upon those amiable 
ladies of perfect neatness or complete elegance 
who forget their dress, and exhibit an ease and 



I 



DEPORTMENT. 



205 



bearing of the highest character. Between these two 
models, the choice cannot be a matter of hesitation. 

The duties of a lady receiving visitors are not 
trifling. She is careful that all her visitors are 
satisfied, without, however, displaying any affec- 
tation. This task is particularly difficult when 
the evening is passed in dancing; for she must 
observe, without appearing to do so, the ladies 
who are not dancing, and send them partners, 
taking especial care that they do not observe 
her commission. And to fulfil properly these 
duties, the mistress of the house should dance 
but little. 

If a lady is merely invited to a ball, her duties 
are less peremptory and less numerous, but not 
upon that account less indispensable. She is 
bound to receive, with a smiling and modest mein y 
all partners, whatever their age or rank. She 
addresses a few words with politeness to her 
neighbours, even though unknown to her. If 
they dance much, she compliments them upon 
their success ; and if, on the contrary, they are 
left alone, she does not seem to perceive it, 
especially if she has been more fortunate: she is 
careful not to speak of her fatigue, or to evince 
an insulting compassion; and, if she can, she 
contributes to procure them partners, without 

T 




206 THE GYMN ASTIQUE DE TRONCHIN. 

their in any way suspecting her of the perform- 
ance of such an office. 

In getting into a carriage, the lady gives one 
hand to the gentleman assisting her, and raises 
her dress with the other. — See Plate XXXIII, 
Jig. 1, in which the door and the servant who 
keeps it open, are removed from the view. 

In mounting on horseback, the lady places 
her right hand on the pommel of the saddle, her 
left foot in the right hand of the gentleman 
assisting her, who stoops to receive it, and her 
left hand on his shoulder. Then, straightening 
her left knee, she bears her weight on the gen- 
tleman's right hand, which he gradually raises, 
(See Plate XXXIII, fig. 2,) until she is seated 
on the saddle. 



THE GYMN ASTIQUE DE TRONCHIN. 

In very many conditions of life, the most useful 
exercise or employment of muscular action is that 
called forth by indispensable occupations and 
domestic cares. 

On the continent ? this is termed the Gymnastique 



THE GYMNASTIQUE DE TRONCHIN. 207 



de Tronchin, because that philosophical physi- 
cian proved the advantages of it to women who 
had neglected it, and persuaded them that habits 
of luxury and even easy sedentary life, were the 
principal causes of nervous affections, and of 
that weakness of organization which perpetually 
multiply to them the chances of indisposition 
and disease. 

It is to be observed also that this kind of 
exercise, so suitable to the nature of the sex, 
very happily employs at once the muscles and 
the will, calms mental agitations, and prevents 
that troubled sensibility and nervous irregularity 
which we observe frequently in indolent women, 
who are tormented about frivolous tastes and 
trifling passions. 

The exercise which women of middling condi- 
tion find in useful occupations, is the more salu- 
tary, because it joins to the natural effects of 
exercise the internal satisfaction which the fulfil- 
ment of a duty bestows: it is, for this reason, 
peculiarly calculated to occupy the mind and to 
prevent it from dwelling too much upon itself, 
as it does in persons overcome by sloth. 

In cases of habitual suffering and indisposition, 
many females, whose sensibility has been dis- 
ordered by a multiplicity of emotions, would find 
their physical condition very promptly ameli- 



208 THE GYMNASTIQUE DE TRONCHIN. 



orated, if, by applying to themselves this moral 
treatment for ennui, they were kept in a state of 
employment, or lively inquietude, — undergoing 
changes of situation, and compelling them to 
occupy themselves for some time about the means 
of existing^ or any other object capable of 
employing their sensibility. 

It is always a mark of a very low and vulgar 
woman to be afraid of being seen or known to 
perform domestic duties. 

The same remarks apply to the practice of 
the arts and trades. 

And here it must be observed that, regarding 
those arts which are exercised by means of the 
needle, &c, or which do not require violent 
or difficult movements, as particularly suitable 
to females, it is a matter of disgust to see 
women, in our large towns, bending like the 
savages in America under the weight of burthens, 
or gaining a livelihood by the most toilsome 
labours, whilst strong men, usurping the pro- 
fessions of the delicate and feeble sex, become 
stay-makers, mantua-makers, hair-dressers, ha- 
berdashers, and do not blush to spend their lives 
in vending perfumes, gauze and lace. 

It is a duty which every woman of generous 
and noble feeling owes to her sex and to huma- 
nity, to discourage the employment of men in 



THE GYMN ASTIQUE DE TR0NCHIN. 



209 



this way, by making purchases in no shop in 
which they find them thus employed. Ladies 
would assuredly attend to this, if they were 
aware of the fact, that shops are filled with these 
epicene and disgusting fellows, on the presump- 
tion, loudly avowed by their masters, that their 
sexual difference makes them agreeable to ladies, 
whom they win to a more profuse expenditure ! 
so that every lady entering a shop of this kind has 
the look of approving of the trap that is thus 
insultingly laid for her! 

The result of this has been noticed by a French 
writer, who says, " In England, men sell all the 
little trifles that compose a lady's toilet. This 
custom will never obtain amongst us ; and it is 
doubtless the cause of the want of grace and 
elegance in the dress of English ladies. Females 
alone possess that delicate tact which suggests 
what will improve; men never have their exqui- 
site sentiments of the peculiarities of fashion."* 

* "En Angleterre, ce sont des hommes qui vendent tous 
les charmans colifichets dont se compose la toilette femi- 
nine. Get usage ne prendra jamais faveur chez nous ; c'est 
a lui, sans nul doute, qu'ilfaut attribuer le manque de grace 
et de gout des parures anglaises. Les femmes seules posse- 
dent ce tact delicat qui fait deviner ce qui doit embellir ; les 
hommes n'auront jamais leur sentiment exquis des conve- 
nances de la mode." 



210 



APPENDIX. 



GAMES. 

These are mere trifles compared with what 
has already been done. It was not indeed my 
wish, in this work, as in the " Manly Exercises," 
to teach arts of direct and practical utility in 
life, which are most suitable to men; but still 
useful education, and more especially the pre- 
servation and improvement of beauty, and the 
prevention and correction of those usual ten- 
dencies to personal defect, which are inseparable 
from constrained or careless habits, were my 
objects, as here most suitable to women. Edu- 
cation and prevention, then, require more direct 
and systematic means than games. The former 
should, in general be confided to teachers ; the 
latter, with a little maternal, and, in case of 
actual deformity, with a little medical, guidance, 
may be left mainly to children themselves. It 
is prevention, not cure, that is the object of this 



SKIPPING ROPE. 



211 



work. I therefore notice but the principal of 
these games, and that slightly. 

LE DIABLE BOITEUX. 

In this game, the shoulders are exercised; the 
rest of the arms have a stiff and awkward posi- 
tion; and there is little in it of an easy or grace- 
ful character. 

LA GRACE. 

This is a new game, common in Germany, 
but introduced into this country from France. 
It derives its name from the supposed graceful 
attitudes which it occasions. Two sticks are 
held in the hands, across each other, like open 
scissors; and the object is to throw and catch a 
small hoop upon them. The game is played by 
two persons. When trying to catch the hoop, 
the sticks are held like scissors shut; and open 
when the hoop is thrown upward. Compared 
with the means already before the reader, it 
is as inferior as it is childish. 

SKIPPING ROPE. 

The same remark may be made on this game, 
which there are several ways of practising; by 



212 



GAMES. 



simply springing and passing the rope under the 
feet with rapidity, once, twice, or even thrice; 
by crossing arms at the moment of throwing the 
rope ; and by passing the rope under the feet of 
two or three, who skip at once, standing close, 
and laying hands on each other's shoulders. 

SHUTTLECOCK AND BATTLEDOOR. 

This game consists of striking a piece of cork 
covered with leather and tipped with eight or ten 
feathers up into the air, with a light racket 
covered with parchment. The object of the 
players is to keep the cork constantly passing 
and repassing in the air. It is a one-handed 
game, in which the right hand will always be 
preferred, and it is therefore peculiarly objec- 
tionable for young ladies, as ensuring that one- 
sidedness which is the cause of so much mischief. 

BOW AND ARROW, &C. 

The same strong objection may be made to 
this game, in which the attitude is moreover a 
twisted one. 



Bowls, nine-pins, billiards, &c. are all liable 
to similar objections. 



213 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 

Exercise is not equally useful in all climates. 

In warm 'climates, heat, by calling the vital 
forces towards the circumference, supplies the 
place of exercise in many respects; and the debi- 
litating perspirations which excite too greatly 
even without exercise, may render that often 
pernicious. 

Exercise should, doubtless, be varied accord- 
ing- to the sex of the individual. 

It would, however, be a prejudicial error to 
suppose that females should be subjected only 
to passive exercise. On the contrary, the se- 
dentary occupations of women impose upon them, 
more than on men, the necessity of engaging in 
active exercises. 

Exercises should only be more moderate in 
woman than in man. A female, moreover, will, 
with advantage, use those that act upon the 
muscles of the chest, which her mode of life 
affords but few opportunities of exercising. 
With this view, I have already recommended, in 
particular, the extension motions and the Indian 
sceptres. 

Exercise should vary according to age. 



214 APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 

Nature announces to us, by the extreme rest- 
lessness of the infant, the pressing necessity of 
its organization for active exercise. In sponta- 
neous motions, we see very young children in- 
dulge, with a kind of joy, whenever they are for 
an instant freed from their clothes. This is the 
exercise suited to their age; and it is far more 
salutary for them than all the motions commu- 
nicated by the nurses who toss them about. 

This being equally applicable to infants of both 
sexes, it may be added that the child should be 
taken out often, especially if brought up in 
town; but should not be kept seated on one 
forearm. This manner of carrying is, even in 
infancy, one of the causes of deviations of the 
vertebral column, which is still in a cartilaginous 
state. The mother or nurse should carry the 
infant on both her arms in a half reclining posi- 
tion, that she may give equal support to all its 
parts. Neither should she leave the head, which 
is so large in proportion to the rest of the body, 
to its own weight. 

Above all things, it is necessary to observe 
that it is the movements that infants make of 
their own accord which are most useful to them, 
because the quickness of their actions should 
follow the vivacity of their sensations. 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 215 

Medical advisers have often said that the 
exercise which children who cannot yet walk 
should be made to take, ought not to consist in 
being suspended by the armpits, to make them 
beat the ground with their feet. All the appa- 
ratus of leading-strings, by means of which 
nurses foolishly think to make them walk before 
the time appointed by nature, compresses the 
chest, lifts up the shoulders, frequently stops 
the circulation of the blood in the vessels about 
the armpits, and injures the respiration and cir- 
culation. The lateral deviation also of the knee- 
joint and ankle-joint may arise from the absurd 
eagerness of parents to make children walk, 
before their limbs are sufficiently strong to bear 
the disproportionate weight that the trunk pre- 
sents at this age. 

The exercise best suited to a child is that 
which it is allowed to take upon a mat or a large 
carpet spread upon the ground. On this species 
of arena, the restless creature should be allowed 
to throw itself about naked, and thus exercise 
itself in turning backwards and forwards as fancy 
prompts: it will thus, by successive efforts actu- 
ating generally all the muscles, soon gain the 
strength by which it will raise and support itself. 
It is similarly the liberty of running about 



216 APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 



granted to children in the country, which, in a 
great measure, produces that strong constitution 
which distinguishes them from children in towns. 

In youth, active exercises are useful, in draw- 
ing into the limbs those vivifying juices which 
frequently direct themselves with too much 
activity towards the organs of respiration and 
those of reproduction. 

When, however, the height of a youth exceeds 
the usual stature, and he becomes sensibly weaker, 
nature evidently prescribes abstinence from vio- 
lent exercise, and requires none but what may 
be necessary to facilitate the assimilation of the 
nutritive elements. 

To young girls in whom an excess of liveli- 
ness and activity requires to be consumed by 
active and continued movements, passive exer- 
cises are not suited. It is for this age particularly 
that active exercises offer many advantages, and 
may be applied with great success. It is the 
period of development of all the organs, which 
these movements cannot but favor. It is indeed 
the only age at which exercise, the elements of 
which have been stated, is truly useful, because 
if deferred to a later period, they may want the 
activity, suppleness and skill necessary for many 
exercises. 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 



217 



Iii adults, exercise has the good effect of dis- 
tributing, throughout the members, the vital prin- 
ciples, which our pernicious customs concentrate 
in the abdominal and cerebral organs. 

In old people, exercise relieves the principal 
functions from the feeling of constraint which 
they experience, and frequently prevents those 
mortal strokes which at this age attack the brain. 

Temperament requires to be studied in the se- 
lection of exercises. 

An individual possessed of a sanguine tempe- 
rament should constantly use active exercises. 
If sanguification or the formation of blood be 
very active, they may be carried so far as to pro- 
duce perspiration. It is the best means of dissi- 
pating, to the advantage of the nutrition of the 
muscles, the excess of plethora, and superabun- 
dance of juices, which torment persons of this 
temperament. 

Such persons ought, however, to abstain from 
exercises that require great efforts, on account of 
their predisposition to aneurisms, hemorrhages, 
and cerebral effusions and compressions. 

Passive exercises, or those methods that gently 
strengthen the fibres without causing any corres- 
ponding loss, and thus induce plethora, would be 



218 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE, 



unsuitable to sanguine persons disposed to he- 
morrhage. 

Active exercises suit individuals of a lymphatic 
temperament, naturally dull, slow and indolent. 

The ancients remarked the good effects of 
exercise upon girls of weak constitutions, of soft 
and lax texture, subject to languid maladies; 
and they accordingly applied exercise in the cure 
of many diseases that baffled the skill of the phy- 
sician. The moderns have profited by their ob- 
servations, and made new ones of similar tendency. 

It would, however, be imprudent to subject 
suddenly to violent exercise young girls of feeble 
constitution, with soft skin, pale complexion, and 
light hair, which are proofs of weakness. 

In persons also with soft fibres, whose narrow 
and feeble vessels are plunged in fat, exercise 
must be very moderate, in order not radically to 
wear out muscular forces deprived of primitive 
energy. If it is very violent, or is continued too 
long, it may then sometimes occasion adipose in- 
flammations of the viscera. 

To remedy this languishing state, their fibres 
should first be braced by passive exercises fre- 
quently repeated, commencing by those which 
are extremely gentle. Exercise in the open air, 

6 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 



219 



such as carriage-riding, is particularly useful to 
girls of this constitution. The force and resist- 
ance of the fibres will augment in proportion as 
the fatty and serous plethora dissipates itself. 

A nervous temperament promises superiority 
of the mental faculties ; but it may become the 
source of great evils, if we do not diminish 
that exquisite susceptibility which sooner or later 
would produce them. 

The general effect of exercise is to strengthen 
the body and counteract the early predisposition 
to a nervous temperament. This temperament 
indeed requires continual exercise. In it, there 
is no danger that, in strengthening the body, we 
may injure those faculties that seem to arise from 
a nervous temperament. With such constitution, 
no one can ever become an athlete, which, as we 
know, is converting mind into brute force. Ner- 
vous girls, then, should be strengthened; it will 
prevent them becoming invalids ; it is certain they 
will remain clever. 

A physician accordingly observes that, in 
strengthening the animal economy by exercise, 
we get rid of the nervous irritability, the sickly 
sensibility, which is the offspring of luxury, and 
parent of vapours, hysterics and hypocondria, as 
well as of the fatal practices which attack the 

u 2 



220 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 



sources of life, and which commence at the age 
of puberty and often sooner. By strengthening 
the muscles, exercise moderates this vicious sen- 
sibility. Exercise produces lassitude, and lassi- 
tude sleep; and when a person sleeps soundly, 
she will not be awakened by the fancies of a dis- 
ordered imagination. 

Passive, mixed, and moderately active exercises 
suit a bilious temperament, characterized by dry- 
ness and extreme rigidity of fibre. The indivi- 
dual should use moderate and sustained exercise, 
fit rather to regulate than accelerate the march 
of functions already too rapid. 

Particular dispositions also require particular 
exercises. One cannot endure the motion of the 
most easy carriage; another suffers from that of 
a boat; a third finds it impossible to ride on 
horseback, &c. It is sometimes desirable to 
combat these dislikes, but we must not obstinately 
endeavour to surmount them, when they appear 
determined: it is better, in such a case, to dis- 
continue the exercise disliked: and frequently 
another, even more active, will not produce the 
same inconvenience. 

The habits previously contracted should not be 
overlooked in advising as to exercise. A young 
girl whose condition is sedentary, should not be 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 



221 



subjected to such exercise as a young man who 
is generally actively employed. The best' appli- 
cation of gymnastics, is that which conducts the 
pupil gradually from the most gentle exercise to 
the most active. 

Without speaking of acute maladies, in which 
muscular action is always hurtful, there are 
different states of the body in which the utility 
of exercise is very doubtful : there are even some 
in which, by the nature of its direct effects, it can 
do only ill. Such is the case with young girls 
who may be affected with predisposition to apo- 
plexy, asthmatical diseases, &c. 

It is evident that in general passive exercises 
only should be had recourse to in case of sick- 
ness and indispositions, because spontaneous 
movement might then be more or less injurious. 

Exercise, however, if properly directed, is ex- 
tremely beneficial in convalescence. The reco- 
vering patient who cannot yet walk across her 
chamber, should be carried or wheeled in an easy 
chair, until she can support the motion of a 
carriage. 

Many chronic affections are favourably influ- 
enced by exercise; but of course it must be taken 
under the precautions we have mentioned for con- 
valescents. In these cases and others analogous, 

u 3 



222 



APPROPRIATION OF EXERCISE. 



where passive exercises are useful, it rarely hap- 
pens that the use of active exercises is successful. 

The same does not hold in scrofulous cases, 
where debility, paleness, and want of elasticity 
indicate the necessity of motions as active as the 
strength will admit. It is probable that these 
diseases, so common in infancy and youth, will 
be very rare in children who are regularly trained 
to exercise. 

It is at the age of puberty especially, that ex- 
ercise has an influence remarkably favourable 
over the diseases to which young girls are subject. 

Where girls have been, from their infancy, 
habituated to suitable exercises, the phenomena 
peculiar to them make their appearance much 
later than when they have been brought up in 
idleness and luxury, and consequently at a period 
when the constitution has more power to resist 
the accidents that then occur. 

It is strikingly the reverse, where girls have 
lived in the midst of pleasures, where night is 
turned into day, and spent many of these nights 
in dances, where the salutary effect of motion is 
counteracted by the unhealthy effect of large 
numbers in a circumscribed space, where there is 
scarcely room to breathe a heated and corrupted 
air. Exercise like this, far from strengthening the 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



223 



body, produces only a momentary excitement, 
which increases vicious sensibility, and lays the 
foundations of a diseased maturity. In some 
cases, where the languid and inert state of the 
organs requires rousing, exercise, by exciting the 
action of the principal organ, brings on the de- 
sired event, and facilitates its periodical return, 
and thusbrings back, with more certainty than any 
medicinal means, health, strength and beauty. 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 

In regard to the time for exercise in the open 
air, the morning is usually directed to be chosen 
in summer, and the middle of the day in winter. 

This rule is not necessary as to exercise taken 
under cover; but violent exercise should never 
be suffered in summer, at that part of the day 
when the heat is most powerful. 

The state of the body is a circumstance not to 
be neglected. 

Active exercises should not be indulged in, ex- 
cept when digestion has been finished, because 
the animal organization does not properly perform 
several actions at the same time. 

Very moderate exercises, such as walking or 
carriage-riding, may be indulged immediately after 
a meal. Still it is not proper for persons who 



224 



GUIDANCE Or 



EXERCISES. 



are n a state of perfect health, and in the con- 
stant habit of using bodily exercise, to practise 
these exercises, however moderate, in the idea of 
aiding in the accomplishment of any kind of 
function of life. 

Passive exercise is generally most favourable 
to digestion. 

Meals, on the other hand, should never be 
taken immediately after violent exercise. The 
stimulus produced by them in the economy, de- 
ranges the order of the vital movements, and for 
a time deprives the stomach of the strength re- 
quisite for its function. 

In a perspiration, it is not possible, without 
some danger, to return to passive exercise, during 
which there is inactivity. — Similar precautions 
are still more necessary at certain periods. 

It is also advisable not to commence these ex- 
ercises without satisfying any demands of nature 
that might become troublesome or dangerous. 

The clothes should be made of strong materials, 
not so expensive as to make it of consequence if 
they should be spoilt in the exercise. They 
should not be so tight as to constrain the motions, 
nor so large as to embarrass by their looseness. 
They should contain nothing capable of hurting. 
The shoes should be large. No band should con- 
fine the body or limbs : the shoulder-straps of stays 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



225 



should be loosened, and it is better to wear -neither 
sash, nor garters. Every thing that may prevent 
freedom of action should be rejected. 

The choice of a place for exercise, is by no 
means a matter of indifference. Other things 
being equal, the body will receive more salutary 
influences from exercise taken in the open air, in 
the middle of a field, in a pleasant agreeable 
country. Independently of its effects upon the 
mind, the breathing a more pure and animating 
air and the exciting action of the light, produce 
an effect which would be in vain expected in a 
confined place, and especially in a room or court- 
yard. 

There are, however, cases in which exposure to 
the open air might produce some inconvenience, 
and in which it is desirable to choose such exer- 
cise as can be taken in a close place. 

Accordingly, a place for exercise cannot offer 
all the advantages to be expected from it, except 
it be sufficiently spacious not only to permit a 
variety of games, but to allow the means, accor- 
ding to circumstances and necessity, of exercising 
either in the open air, or in an enclosed space, 
and in all kinds of situations. 

It is of the very highest importance to bear 
in mind that active exercises should be so 

DIRECT KD AS TO KEEP UP THE REGULAR ACTION 



226 GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 

OF ALL THE MUSCULAR PARTS AND TO EXCITE 
THE ACTION OF THOSE WHICH ARE LESS DEVE- 
LOPED. — It is the attention bestowed on this 
precept which is the means of preventing those 
deviations of the vertebral column, that may be 
observed amongst the majority of young girls. 

Active exercises should be proceeded with 
gradually ; those that require the employment o. 
great strength should not be commenced till 
custom has rendered easy those that require less. 

Active exercises should be proportioned to 
what can be spared by the other organs in favour 
of muscular action; for violent and continued 
movements would soon produce disorder. Under 
the influence of such exercise, the palpitations 
of the heart are immoderate, the breathing 
becomes difficult, the heat excessive, the per- 
spiration streams over an inflamed skin, diges- 
tion is deranged, the body loses what it does not 
regain, langour and debility are felt, and falling 
away takes place without the texture of the 
organs becoming stronger. 

No general rule can be laid down for the 
duration of exercise. What might be easy for 
some would fatigue others. We must therefore con- 
suit the age, strength, temperament and habits, 
so as not to require violent and long-continued 
efforts from one incapable of supporting them. 



GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES . 



227 



The best rule is to stop before we feel fati- 
gued, otherwise we risk the chance of weakening, 
instead of strengthening, Motions sufficiently 
violent to produce a painful state of fatigue, 
cannot be continued without efforts which must be 
continually increased, and will speedily produce 
a violent excitement and disorder of the functions. 
Exercise, to be useful and salutary, should be 
frequent rather than violent. 

It is not necessary that exercise should be the 
object of a scrupulous calculation. It is better 
to consult present taste or feeling than chime- 
rical ideas of order and regularity. A life too 
measured out, by subjecting her who assumes it 
to the influence of habit, exposes her more to 
the attacks of disease. Change is even necessary 
to prepare us for violent shocks. 

When the exhaling vessels of the skin act 
powerfully in consequence of violent exercise, 
and perspiration bedews every part of the body, 
it must not be suddenly stopped: the animal 
economy requires this, in order to get rid of too 
great heat; and if it were suddenly suspended, 
the feverish action occasioned by exercise, find- 
ing no longer means of a salutary crisis, through 
cutaneous exhalation, might injuriously in- 
fluence the viscera, and produce there that 
fluxion which was going off by the pores of the 



228 GUIDANCE OF EXERCISES. 



skin. In this case, those organs, which, in con- 
sequence of any predisposing cause, were most 
disposed to irritation, would be the first affected. 

To obviate this inconvenience, and give time 
for the fluxion we are speaking of to diminish, 
and cease only when the object of nature is 
attained, it is prudent to resume clothes, if they 
have been diminished during the exercise, or if 
not, and they are impregnated with moisture, to 
change them for others. 

Every one knows that, in this state, no part 
of the body should be exposed uncovered to cold, 
and especially to a draught: drinking a quantity 
of cold water, or placing the hands or feet in 
cold water when the heat is abating, is still more 
carefully to be avoided. These precautions which 
seem most necessary in winter and cold weather, 
must not be neglected in summer, when heat and 
perspiration are more easily excited. 

In no case, after violent exercise, should the 
exerciser remain in a state of total inaction. 
After violent exercise, the pupil should indulge in 
more gentle, so as gradually to allay the excite- 
ment raised. If she prefers resting inactive, she 
should return to some warm place to dry herself, 
rub the skin gently, and assume a change of linen. 

FINIS. 



Printed by J. and C. Adlard, Bartholomew Close. 



WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY T. HURST, 
65, st. paul's church-yard, London. 



I. 

Half-bound in Morocco, price 85., embellished with fifty-six En- 
gravings, from Designs by F. Howard and H. Aiken, the 
Third Edition, much enlarged and improved, of 

MANLY EXERCISES; 

BY DONALD WALKER :* 

Containing Walking, Running, Leaping, Vaulting, Ba- 
lancing, Skating, Climbing, Swimming, Rowing, Sailing, 
Riding, Driving, Wrestling, Boxing, Training, (fee. 

" A capital work of its kind, and not only a guide, but a provo- 
cative to manly Sports and Exercises, — exercises far too much neg- 
lected among us, and especially among those whose employments 
are sedentary ." — Literary Gazette. 

« A very complete little volume under this title has just been 
published by Hurst, of St. Paul's Church-yard. It describes clearly 
and carefully all the gymnastic arts and manly exercises to which 
the youth of this country are, and ever should be, addicted. Each 
subject is illustrated with line engravings, which give greater accu- 
racy to the author's precepts, and thus enable intelligent readers 
to become perfect masters of the whole science of the British 
athletae. As the price of this attractive volume is very moderate, 
it will probably find an extensive sale among our schools." — Mwning 
Herald. 

" Those who are ambitious of attaining excellence, or, at any 
rate, a competent knowledge of our various sorts of amusements, 
especially of the mysteries of Riding, Driving, and Sailing, will 
find many useful practical hints on these subjects within the boards 
of this little unassuming volume." — Sun* 

t( This is a curious and valuable volume. A prettier present 
could not be made to a lad, or one more likely to be useful. 
What the author tells us is expressed with sufficient distinctness ; 
but, to 'make assurance doubly sure,' it is enriched with nume- 
rous illustrative engravings." — Sunday Times. 

" A very useful little work has just been published, under this 
title, illustrated by excellent plates, in which instructions are given 
for acquiring perfection in all the manly exercises of the country. 
It is written with great clearness and brevity, and by a gentleman 
evidently well acquainted with his subjects. Mr. D. Walker is 
the author." — Bell's Life in London. 



* Who could have thought a Walker would know so much about 
Riding and Driving? — Literary Gazette* 



\ 



Works recently published by 



" This is precisely the kind of book we have been long wishing to 
see — an introduction to manly exercises, free from quackery. In 
this volume there is no affectation or pretence. It contains no 
instructions for posture-making, buffoonery, or distortion ; but lays 
down a plain, simple, and rational system of practice for those 
exercises which are conducive both to health and amusement, 
Rowing, Sailing, and Driving are novelties. The volume is not only 
a very useful, but a very handsome one, and the illustrations 
display great taste and talent. It is a perfect manual of instruction 
upon the subjects of which it treats." — The Portico. 

" The following extracts from a work (Walker's 'British Manly 
Exercises/) on Sailing, &c, recently published, are highly inter- 
esting to a maritime nation." — The Times. 

"No one will lay down the book of f Manly Exercises' but to 
take it up again with renewed pleasure, for it comes home to the 
business and bosom of all. We may venture to predict complete 
success to the volume, which will, we trust, induce the author to add 
to a work unique in its kind, and of universal utility." — Guardian 
and Public Ledger. 

" This is an excellent and useful little book, and one from which 
persons of all ages and sizes may derive essential benefit." — Naval 
and Military Gazette. 

( < We have rarely met with any literary production which bids 
fairer to be of practical utility than ' Walker's Manly Exercises.' " — 
Stewarts Dublin Dispatch. 

" This is really a beautiful little work, and complete in its kind." 
■ — Gloucestershire Chronicle. 

" To all lovers of healthful and manly amusements, this work 
must prove invaluable. The instructions in Rowing and Sailing, 
Riding and Driving, are quite new. We will venture to predict a 
rapid and diffused sale to this admirable work." — The Town, 

<< This work is of a curious, amusing, and, we must add, of a 
very instructive nature." — Oxford Herald. 

<< All is well done, and presented in a truly elegant form." — Kent 
Herald. 

" Parents who are anxious to lay the foundation of future health 
and strength, and to remedy any constitutional defect in any of their 
children, will find this work useful and valuable." — Merthyr 
Guardian. 

IL 

With numerous Engravings from Designs byF. Howard, 
GAMES AND SPORTS; 

BY DONALD WALKER : 
Consisting of Domestic Games, Out-of-Door Games, Rustic Sports, 
and Sports of the Seasons ; excluding only Games of Chance, and 
Games or Sports that are either Childish or Dangerous. 



T. Hurst, 65, St Paul's Church-yard. 



III. 

DEFENSIVE EXERCISES, now preparing for the -Press, will 
complete Mr. Walker's System of PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 

IV. 

Being the First Work of a System of Literary Education^ 

READING and WRITING, 
OR IMPROVED SPELLING-BOOK; 

BY DONALD WALKER: 
Conformably with Walker's '< Principles of Pronunciation," and 
with the views of Sheridan, Edgeworth, Bell, &c , as well as with 
other methods, by which the earliest education is divested of its 
irrational, arbitrary, and repulsive character, and habits of wrong 
pronunciation are, from the first, rendered impossible. 

APPROBATION OF THE WORK. 

We are of opinion, that " Walker's Reading and Writing, or 
Improved Spelling- Book," in consequence of its careful analysis, and 
clear exposition of the elements of the English language, is better 
calculated than any other work we have seen,— to lighten the task 
both of teachers and pupils,— to make the acquirement of Reading 
easy,— and to produce everywhere an uniformity of correct Pronun- 
ciation. 

GEORGE BIRKBECK, m.d. f.g.s., President of the London 

Mechanics' Institution. 
ANTHONY CARLISLE, f.r.s., Vice-President of the College 

of Surgeons. 
JAMES COPLAND, m.d. 
JAMES FORD, Navestock Vicarage, Essex. 
W. J. FOX. 

GEORGE GLOVER, m.a. 

JOHN GLENN1E GREIG, m.a., Academy, Leytonstone. 
THOMAS WRIGHT HILL, f.r.a.s., Bruce Castle, Middlesex. 
A. COPLAND HUTCHISON, f.r.s. 
JAMES MILL.* 

JAMES MITCHELL, ll.d. f.g.s. 
L. NEUMEGEN, Academy, Highgate. 
HENRY NORWICH. 

The Venerable the Archdeacon Wrangham honours the 
work by writing " I can conscientiously say that this work seems 
adapted to produce the desirable results of making the acquirement 
of reading more systematic, and of rendering the pronunciation 
of our language more uniformly correct." 

The following are the expressions with which some of the gen- 
tlemen whose names appear in the preceding List, have further 
honoured the work : — 



* " The Historian of India," the author begs leave to append. 



Published by T. Hurst, St. Paul's Church-yard. 



Dr. Copland says " It Is admirably done, and well calculated to 
be useful even to the teacher. It will give a correct enunciation at 
the outset — a circumstance which, if not carefully attended to then, 
will be more or less felt for ever afterwards. The Reading Lessons 
are the most judicious I have yet seen." 

The Reverend W. J. Fox says " Your Improved Spelling-Book 
seems to me richly to deserve that title." 

The Venerable the Archdeacon Glover says " I am fully sensible 
of the great pains bestowed on the construction of this work. The 
System is unquestionably good, and the Analysis at once ingenious 
and useful." 

Mr. Greig says «* I consider Mr. Walker's Book admirably 
calculated both for master and pupil, and shall unquestionably 
introduce it into my establishment, and call the notice of others to 
it, as far as lies in my power H 

The Founder of the Schools of Hazlewood and Bruce Castle says 
" I have carefully examined Mr. Walker's Improved Spelling- 
Book, and with great pleasure give my testimony to its merit, as to 
both plan and execution. The book is an excellent instrument for 
teaching to read and spell. The wretched inconsistency of our 
spelling with our pronunciation, or of our pronunciation with our 
spelling, whichever horn of the dilemma we choose to be gored 
with — such miserable inconsistency, exposed in all its nudity by 
the author's able Analysis, renders the wish more fervent than ever 
that there were in existence an enacting as well as a declaratory 
power that could act upon the laws of language, and could gra- 
dually sweep away much of that irregularity so harassing to chil- 
dren," &c. 

Mr* A. Copland Hutchison says ** I am well convinced that the 
work must eventually be the standard school-book in all our semi- 
naries of education." 

The name of the Right Reverend the Bishop of Norwich, in the 
preceding list, confers the sanction of one of the most enlightened, 
most upright, and most benevolent of mankind. 

V. and VI. 

PRINCIPLES OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR and PRINCIPLES 
OF ENGLISH COMPOSITION will form the next two works in 
Mr. Walker's System of LITERARY EDUCATION. 



PRESERVATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF BEAUTY, by 
Healthful Regimen, by Scrupulous Cleanliness, and by the Adap- 
tation, Colour, and Arrangement of Dress, as variously Influencing 
the Form, Complexion, and Expression of each Individual, and 
Rendering Cosmetic Impositions unnecessary ; By Mrs.A.W T ALKER. 



A 



